Samuel French Spring 2016 Journal of Plays and Musicals

SPRING

2016

Samuel French, journal of plays and musicals

SAMUELFRENCH.COM

Explore our catalog 24/7 on the industry’s leading website for plays and musicals

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to thank you for your work so far and thank you in advance for your patience during what will be a long process.

Actors, you already know this, but this is your time to say ‘I can’t see,’ ‘I need help,’ ‘I’m terrified.’ Places for top of show. Places for top of show please.”

Stage Manager, 10 Out of 12 by Anne Washburn

“Wherever you come near the human race there’s layers and layers of nonsense.”

Stage Manager, Our Town by Thornton Wilder

Sam Breslin Wright in Mr. Burns: a post-electric play, Playwrights Horizons, 2012 (Joan Marcus).

Samuel French

Contents

SPRING 2016

Plays

journal of plays and musicals

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Musicals

From the Editors

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t’s been a couple of years since Samuel French created a printed catalog. And almost a decade since we published a catalog of our entire library. If you remember, it included over 6,000 titles and was the size of a phonebook.

We’re trying something a little different now. The Samuel French Journal is a curated collection of titles, with plays and musicals intentionally selected for our professional producing partners. Here you’ll find new titles, a selection of our favorite plays and musicals, and some great shows you may have previously overlooked.

Our intention is to provide you with as much information about the writers and titles in our collection as possible. In addition to the listings, you’ll see our playwrights talking about their work and process, as well as featured articles written by artists like Todd Almond, Gregory Boyd, and Kevin Murphy.

We encourage you to go online and see what’s been happening behind the scenes with your favorite writers. Breaking Character Magazine is our online resource for news and editorials about our plays and musicals. The Samuel French YouTube channel features over 200 videos of author interviews and performances. And you can alway connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to tap into what’s happening in theatre all over the country.

This journal is a testament to the plays and musicals published and licensed at Samuel French. If you see something you like, you can visit our website to find information on the title and request a license, or speak with one of our licensing representatives.

Use the journal when season-planning or when in need of a spark of inspiration. We hope it helps you find the next great show for your theater.

Samuel French, Inc. Chris Kam Samuel French Journal Content & Design Editor Courtney Kochuba Breaking Character Magazine Editor Ryan Pointer Marketing Director

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Resources

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Contact Us

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Index of Titles

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Index of Authors

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Features Meet The Team: Professional Licensing

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Recent Acquisitions

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Guilty Pleasures: The Theatre of Agatha Christie

by Gregory Boyd 26 Finding Ira Aldridge

by Lolita Chakrabarti

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Asian Playwrights & Asian Characters

by Damon Chua

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The Simple Path of

Melancholy Play by

Todd Almond

How R ock

of

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Ages brought the

Long Island Laura Palotie

sunset strip to by

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We Are Who We Are: A Lovefest with by

La Cage

aux

Folles

Shawn Churchman

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The Writing Process or Does He Have To Pull Out A Magnum in the Lunchroom?

by Kevin Murphy 92 This Ain’t No Quick Change: Finding New Forms of Musical Theatre

by Brandon Huldeen Plays in your Pocket: Introducing Abbott

Cover Photo: Sydney Lucas in Fun Home, Circle In The Square, 2015 (Joan Marcus).

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Behind the Scenes: Meet the Licensing Team How does licensing a play work exactly? Breaking Character Magazine’s Editor, Courtney Kochuba, sat down with Samuel French Literary Director Amy Rose Marsh and Licensing Manager David Kimple to chat about the ins and outs of the process, and to pick up a few useful tips for licensees.

Okay guys, so let’s dive right in. First, how long have each of you been working at Samuel French?

Amy Rose Marsh: I’ve been working at French for roughly eight years, though my first six months were as a Literary Intern! Since then I’ve been our Associate Editor, our Literary Manager, and now I’m Literary Director, which basically means I govern acquisitions and licensing strategy. I’m a devout new play advocate, so being able to connect a brilliant new theatre work

with an adventurous play producer is the most rewarding part of my job.

David Kimple: I’ve been at Samuel French for about two years.

I started working as the Professional Licensing Representative for 25 states and all of Canada, and took over as the Licensing Manager early in 2015.

If you could sum up your job description in one sentence, what would that be?

David: I work with professional

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theaters around the world during season-planning to select shows and confirm upcoming productions while leading our licensing staff in day-today operations.

Amy: Our former Vice President once told me I was like the new play/musical midwife – helping and supporting artists through the development and first production process, and then being there to support and help the work when it's ready to go out into the world.

That’s very touchy-feely, but I can tell you that when a theatre producer

F eatures writes me an email about how a play changed their world, I get weepy. It never gets old.

Hey, we’re a theatre crowd so we think it’s okay to get a bit weepy over art changing the world! Now, let’s talk licensing. How is the licensing department at Samuel French structured?

David: Our team is built around geographic regions. And each region has their own Licensing Representative. For instance, Nick Dawson is the Southeastern Amateur Rep – he handles general licensing for major states like Georgia and Florida consistently so that he can really stay in tune with the needs of that specific region.

I know that you pride yourselves on having a terrific team of representatives. What would you say are some of the best qualities of having this type of team?

David: We’re all theatre people and we like to encourage our team to let that shine. We approach this part of the theatre process with the same heart and vigor that any director, actor, or producer might.

All of our reps come from theatrical backgrounds and understand the experience that our clients are going through. The best quality is their theatrical humanity and empathy.

Could you walk us through a normal day for the reps?

David: They handle a lot. We take in new requests, issue agreements, work with licensing compliance to ensure our playwrights’ works are being presented honorably, check in with our clients about their shows

and, most importantly, talk about theatre.

“The best part of our job is being able to turn a theater on to a work or playwright who’s not yet on their radar, and that may just have a play who really speaks to their audience.”

Okay, so let’s say that a theater is planning their season and they want to include a show from our catalog. What are their next steps?

David: Once the theater knows what they’d like to produce, the easiest way to start the process is to request a license through the website by clicking “request license.”

We always do our best to update the request within 24 to 48 hours in some capacity. Newer titles and major titles can take a little bit longer to confirm availability because we prefer to work directly with agents, authors, and theaters when possible.

Theatre is a collaborative art! It’s always smart to apply for rights at least four weeks ahead of the preproduction process or any pertinent deadlines.

Can you talk about your relationship to the literary and artistic offices of theaters? Do you ever get to recommend works or artists to them?

Amy: The Samuel French motto is “Make Theatre Happen.” That’s a creed that all of us believe in at a very raw, fundamental level. That’s why we show up to the office. That said, the best part of our job is being able to turn a theater on to a work or playwright who’s not yet on their

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radar, and who may just have a play that really speaks to their audience.

We welcome dialogue about our catalog and it’s standard for our professional theaters to regularly engage in conversations about the plays they are watching and the writers they are developing. We’d love to get to know our amateur groups better; if you want guidance on new plays or help navigating our classic musicals, just call.

This has all been terrific, thanks guys. But before we go, we need to ask you: What seems to be the biggest mystery of licensing? Is there one myth that you’d like to dispel?

Amy: I think there’s an old school belief that a licensor is unapproachable and secretive about the “whys” of a denial.

That’s not really true. There’s a huge push toward a greater culture of transparency at French and we’ll always tell you what we know and what we can. There are cases where, for legal reasons, we need to be a little more cryptic and we are very grateful for our theaters’ understanding about this.

David: We’re not interested in shutting anyone down or stifling the creativity of the artist. Oftentimes people interpret us as the “bad guy/ gal” because we work in contracts and money – it’s not true. There are limits to what we can allow on behalf of our playwrights and their work, of course, but we want theatre to happen and will do everything we can to make the licensing process as smooth and painless as possible so that theaters can keep producing and authors can keep writing.

Samuel French’s Literary Director Amy Rose Marsh and Licensing Manager David Kimple.

Recent Acquisitions: Samuel French is acquiring new titles all the time. You’ll find new plays and musicals available for licensing throughout the journal. Here, we’re highlighting a few of the titles we’ve acquired in the last year. We asked our Literary Supervisor, Ben Coleman, to share his thoughts on what makes these writers unique and why these plays will make great productions.

3C

Satire | 3m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2012

b y D AV I D A D J M I

“David Adjmi created quite a stir in NYC for parodying the popular 70s sitcom Three’s Company in this dark comedy.

His play tells the story of Brad, an ex-serviceman who finds himself in L.A. following the Vietnam War. After much partying, he finds himself in the apartment of Connie and Linda, and the three agree upon a special living arrangement that spurs on consequences both hilarious and tragic. Adjmi has one of the most distinct voices in contemporary playwriting. What makes 3C so exciting is witnessing his wild and probing vision subvert familiar sitcom tropes into a comical and disturbing critique about gender and sexuality. It was such a haunting play to see unfold on stage, and we are excited for audiences to engage with this piece as it strikes nerves and funny bones simultaneously.”

10 Out of 12

Comedy | 8m, 6f | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2015

by ANNE WASHBURN

“There is nothing boring about Anne Washburn. Her plays excite, provoke, and press the limits of theatricality. 10 Out of 12 is a love letter to anyone who has been remotely involved in the trying process of making a play. In this highly entertaining, eye-opening look into the daunting process of tech rehearsals, 10 Out of 12 places the audience in the middle of one such rehearsal, situated amongst sound designers who mix cues, stage managers who gossip about actors, and one director who struggles to pull it all together. Theatre-insiders will laugh with understanding, and outsiders will revel in wonderment as Washburn offers a glimpse into life on the other side of the footlights.”

Everything You Touch

Dark Comedy | 2m, 6f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2015

by SHEILA CALLAGHAN

“There is something inherently theatrical about the fashion world, and Sheila Callaghan’s bold and imaginative play explores how this industry celebrates and punishes women for their bodies and what they wear on top of them. In this fractured, time-hopping play, Everything You Touch tells two parallel stories: one of Victor, a ruthless 1970s fashion designer with his muse Esme, and the other of Jess, a computer programmer who is so far removed from anything fashionable it’s causing an identity crisis. As the play jumps through time, the two stories are sewn together in this viciously funny play. Not only does Callaghan give many great opportunities to her actors, this one in particular is a dream for any director and designer to tackle.”

Informed Consent

Drama | 2m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

by DEBORAH ZOE LAUFER

“Deborah Zoe Laufer is a playwright who is able to look at all the sides of a complex issue with incredible thought and generosity for her subject. Loosely based on a true story, Informed Consent tells of a female geneticist who specializes in human migratory patterns. When she studies a Native American tribe indigenous to the Grand Canyon, complications arise as scientific data conflicts with the tribe’s origin story. Laufer writes a highly intelligent and dramatically gripping story that leaves its audience pondering: how much information is too much?”

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F eatures

Iowa

Dark Comedy/ Indie Musical | 1m, 6f, 1g | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2015

book & lyrics by JENNY SCHWARTZ music & lyrics by TODD ALMOND

“Jenny Schwartz and Todd Almond truly broke the mold when they wrote Iowa. This daring piece successfully melds absurdism and musical theatre into a genre-bending romp about the relationships that connect us in a disconnected, digitized world. When Becca’s mom finds her soulmate on Facebook, she must leave the unusual pleasantries of her hometown and teenage life to venture to Iowa as her mother seeks a new beginning. But no amount of Facebook chatting can prepare them for their new life in the lone Midwest. When Todd Almond’s haunting score and Jenny Schwartz’s fanciful book come together, a thought-provoking and unforgettable theatrical hybrid is formed.”

John

Drama | 1m, 3f | 210 minutes | World Premiere 2015

by ANNIE BAKER

“Annie Baker is one of the most sought-after and lauded playwrights of her generation, and with good reason. Baker explores life in macro by looking at the microscopic details of each character and the life they lead. In John, Baker amps up her signature style of realism to the point that it becomes metaphysical. John is, in many ways, a ghost story. It tells the story of a couple visiting Gettysburg over the holidays to sort out their relationship, only to find themselves haunted by their past and wondering what’s going on with all of the creepy dolls decorating their B&B.”

Se Llama Cristina

Drama | 2m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2015

b y O C T AV I O S O L I S

“Octavio Solis has the unmistakable voice of a poet and a playwright. In this lyrical fever-dream of a play, a man and woman awaken from a drugged-up stupor to discover their baby is missing. To find their child, the couple relives their history in an attempt to restore order to their lives. Solis takes the audience on a poetic journey through the past, present, and future, and infuses his writing with Spanish dialogue providing a rich textual tapestry for a diverse cast and audience.”

Significant Other

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 4f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2015

by JOSHUA HARMON

“Side-splitting comedy and heartbreaking emotion never went so well together. Joshua Harmon exquisitely captures the joys and anxieties of growing up, and the shifting grounds of friendship when marriage enters into the equation.

Jordan is a gay man in his late-20s. When his three best girlfriends get married one by one, Jordan becomes increasingly aware of his singleness and despairs over his nonexistent love life and the changing dynamics within his circle of friends.

Harmon brilliantly weaves a painful truth into this hard-hitting comedy about what it means to be someone’s gay best friend.”

Ugly Lies the Bone

Drama | 2m, 3f | 80 minutes | World Premiere 2015

by LINDSEY FERRENTINO

“This new play marks the debut of emerging playwright Lindsey Ferrentino, and we can say without a doubt that she is the real deal. Chronicling the rehabilitation of Jess, an Iraq-war veteran, as she undergoes pain management treatment for severe burns and skin damages she suffered through combat, Jess works with her therapist to create a virtual world where she can go to alleviate the physical and emotional pain of her condition. Jess must not only manage her pain, but also acclimate back into a world she once called home that now finds her unrecognizable.”

Licensing restrictions may apply to certain titles.

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Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery Comedy | 4m, 1f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2015

Comedic genius Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo) transforms Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic The Hound of the Baskervilles into a murderously funny adventure. The male heirs of the Baskerville line are being dispatched one by one. To find their ingenious killer, Holmes and Watson must brave the desolate moors before a family curse dooms its newest heir. Watch as our intrepid investigators try to escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises, and deceit as five actors deftly portray more than 40 characters. Join the fun and see how far from elementary the truth can be. Don your deerstalker cap! The play’s afoot!

“The joy in watching this witty new play is not in solving the crime but in the plethora of wildly imaginative characters you meet along the way! Ken Ludwig has given us a play that is ingeniously funny and will keep you guessing until the curtain call.” – Broadway World “The new play turns one of Holmes’ most famous mysteries... on its head. Instead of a heady whodunit, this production is a fastpaced comedy.” – Washington City Paper “A madcap sendup of what you might hold dear about that Doyle classic, done up in the style of The 39 Steps.”

– DC Theatre Scene

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Plays G E T I NS PI R E D When you sit down at your desk and put pen to paper, don’t forget comedy. Alas, so many courses in the history of drama spend most of their time discussing Macbeth and Othello when they should also be talking about Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing. Comedy is one of the two great genres in the history of theatre, and it deserves your time, your creativity and your genius.

- K en Ludwig

Stanley Bahorek, Michael Glenn, and Gregory Wooddell in Baskerville at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, 2015 (Margot Shulman).

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Detroit ’67

by DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU Drama | 2m, 3f | 2 hours with intermission | World Premiere 2013

WINNER - 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History

Detroit, 1967. Motown music is getting the party started, and Chelle and her brother Lank are making ends meet by turning their basement into an afterhours joint. But when a mysterious woman finds her way into their lives, the siblings clash over much more than the family business. As their pent-up feelings erupt, so does their city, and they find themselves caught in the middle of the ’67 riots.

The Waverly Gallery

by KENNETH LONERGAN Comedy | 3m, 2f | 2 hours with intermission | World Premiere 1999

FINALIST - 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Gladys, the elderly matriarch of the Green family, has run an art gallery in a small Greenwich Village hotel for years. The management now wants to replace her less than thriving gallery with a coffee shop.

Always irascible, but now increasingly erratic, Gladys is a cause of concern to her family. A wacky and heartrending look at the effect of senility on a family.

The Happy Ones The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls b y J U L I E M A R I E M Y AT T

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 1f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2009

by MEG MIROSHNIK Dark Comedy | 6f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

“Russian culture is rife with myth and magic. ‘Fairytale...’ takes place in a similar kind of dreamland. [But] in this dreamland, people sleep with one eye open.” - The New York Times

Once upon a time, in 2005, a 20-year-old girl named Annie returns to her native Russia. Underneath a glamorous post-Soviet Moscow she discovers an enchanted motherland teeming with evil stepmothers, wicked witches, and ravenous bears. In a tale more treacherous than any child’s fairytale, Annie must learn how to become the heroine of her own story.

You Got Older

WINNER - 2009 Ted Schmitt/Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Play

Orange County, 1975. For Walter Wells, it’s the happiest place on earth. Until fate strikes a devastating blow, leaving Walter with no reason to put the pieces of his life back together. He resists attempts at help, especially the unexpected offer from a Vietnamese refugee named Bao Ngo. Across a cultural divide, Walter and Bao find a game to share, a song, a meal, and then a way back in this uplifting and funny play.

A Great Wilderness

by CLARE BARRON

by SAMUEL D. HUNTER

Dark Comedy | 4m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

Drama | 3m, 3f | 2 hours with intermission | World Premiere 2014

WINNER - 2015 Obie Award for Playwriting and Performance

“[An] affecting drama that strengthens its hold on you bit by unpredictable bit.” - The Boston Globe

Mae returns home to help take care of Dad and maybe (a little) herself. A tender and darkly comic new play about family, illness, and cowboys and how to remain standing when everything you know comes crashing down around you.

After decades as the gentle-natured leader of a Christian retreat that endeavors to “cure” gay teens, Walt is packing up his life and preparing for a reluctant retirement. But when his final client quietly disappears into the remote Idaho wilderness, Walt discovers that his previously unwavering moral compass no longer points the way.

Licensing restrictions may apply to certain titles.

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Plays

Kindness

Seminar

by ADAM RAPP

by THERESA REBECK

Drama | 6m, 1f | 2 hours with intermission | World Premiere 2008

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 2f | 90 minutes | B'way Premiere 2011

“A well-crafted mini-thriller, which keeps you in suspense until the final blackout.” - New York Daily News

WINNER - 2012 Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Play

An ailing mother and her teenaged son flee Illinois to the relative calm and safety of a midtown Manhattan hotel. Mom holds tickets to a popular musical but her son isn’t interested, so Mom takes the kindly cabdriver instead. Meanwhile, the boy entertains a visitor from down the hall: an enigmatic, potentially dangerous young woman. This is a play about the possibility for sympathy in a harsh world and the meaning of mercy in the face of devastating circumstances.

In this provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prizenominee Theresa Rebeck, four aspiring young novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex becomes a weapon, and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this biting comedy.

Writer’s Block

The Big Meal

by WOODY ALLEN Comedy/Collection | 6m, 5f | Two One Acts| World Premiere 2003

“Sits dead center in the Woody Allen universe...where relatively affluent people grapple comically and paranoiacally with serious questions of love and lust...and the possibility of happiness given the inevitability of death.” - The New York Times

by DAN LEFRANC Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 3f, 1b, 1g | 90 minutes | NY Premiere 2012

NOMINEE - 2012 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play

In Riverside Drive, a homicidal, paranoid-schizophrenic vagrant ex-copywriter has been stalking a screenwriter for weeks, convinced that his prey stole his idea – in fact, his life – to create a successful movie plot. In Old Saybrooke, an orthodontist is hosting her sister and golfmad brother-in-law at her grand suburban house. When a couple who once owned the house stops by, they spark an old fashioned sex farce full of verve and cunning.

Somewhere in America, in a typical suburban restaurant, on a typical night, Sam and Nicole first meet. So begins an expansive tale that traverses five generations of a modern family, from first kiss to final goodbye. A stunning, big-hearted play that spans nearly 80 years and tells the extraordinary story of an ordinary family.

Borstal Boy

by FRANK MCMAHON & BRENDAN BEHAN

The Judas Kiss

Drama | 19m, 5f | 2 hours with intermission| B’way Premiere 1970

WINNER - 1970 Tony Award for Best Play

b y D AV I D H A R E Drama | 6m, 1f | 150 minutes with intermission | World Premiere 1998

“A moving evocation of the human spirit.” - New York Daily News

A compelling depiction of Oscar Wilde just before and after his imprisonment. Act One captures him in 1895 on the eve of his arrest. In the second act, Wilde is in Naples more than two years later, after his release from Reading Gaol. In exile, he is drawn to a reunion with his unworthy lover and a final betrayal.

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The soul of a poet is captured in this award-winning Broadway play. A recounting of Brendan Behan’s imprisonment for carrying explosives into the United Kingdom, with intent to cause explosions on a mission for the IRA. A young, idealistic Behan, over the three years of his sentence, softens his radical stance and warms to the other prisoners.

Ready to license? Visit samuelfrench.com.

Kristen Bush and Jan Maxwell in The City of Conversation at Lincoln Center Theater, 2014 (STEPHANIE BERGER, © 2016).

The City of Conversation

by ANTHONY GIARDINA

Drama | 4m, 4f, 1b | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2014

In 1979, Washington, D.C. was a place where people actually talked to each other.

Where adversaries fought it out on the Senate floor and then smoothed it out over drinks and hors d’oeuvres. But it was all about to change. In this play spanning 30 years and six presidential administrations, Hester Ferris throws Georgetown dinner parties that can change the course of Washington’s politics. But when her beloved son suddenly turns up with an ambitious Reaganite girlfriend and a shocking new conservative worldview, Hester must choose between preserving her family and defending the causes she’s spent her whole life fighting for.

“Mr. Giardina’s stimulating play illuminates the emotional toll that living in such a house divided (and a country divided) can take on its inhabitants.”

– The New York Times “Achieves something that eludes many other plays about Washington: a savvy depiction of social skill as political art, in a city that’s defined by political science... Giardina’s handiwork presents to the world one of the most fair-minded, even compassionate views of the partisan struggles of the city’s political classes you’re likely to encounter these days.” – The Washington Post

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Plays

The Man Who Shot Jacuzzi Liberty Valance

by HANNAH BOS, PAUL THUREEN & OLIVER BUTLER Dark Comedy/Thriller | 3m, 1f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2015

by JETHRO COMPTON Drama | 6m, 1f | 2 hours with intermission | World Premiere 2014

“Excellent... Highly atmospheric, visceral and triumphant.”

- The Stage

Journey to the Wild West in this classic story of good versus evil, law versus the gun, and one man versus Liberty Valance. A tale of love, hope, and revenge set against the vicious backdrop of a lawless society.

“A slow, killing pace appropriate to a Japanese horror movie.

The tension is off the charts!” - Variety

The newest play from The Debate Society. In the Marshall family’s peacefully remote Colorado ski chalet, Erik and Helene are making themselves very much at home. So at home, they just might stay for good. At the edge of civilization, the lifestyles of the rich collide with the lifestyles of the aimless in the bubbling waters of a hot tub.

The General from America

Election Day

by JOSH TOBIESSEN Comedy | 3m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2007

by RICHARD NELSON

“An outrageous comedy...at double-espresso speed.”

- The New York Times

Drama | 11m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2002

It’s Election Day, and Adam knows his over-zealous girlfriend will never forgive him if he fails to vote.

But when his sex-starved sister, an ecoterrorist, and a mayoral candidate willing to do anything for a vote all show up, Adam finds that making the trip to the polls might be harder than he thought. A dark comedy about the price of political (and personal) campaigns.

“Takes a Shakespearean approach to Arnold’s character....

Exploring the human complexity behind such a reductive term as traitor.” - The New York Sun

An iconoclastic portrait of America’s quintessential traitor, Benedict Arnold. The focus is on how and why a military hero who nearly gave his life for the cause of American freedom ended up disclosing vital information to the British. The circumstances necessarily reveal some of the Founding Fathers’ less than heroic machinations.

A Weekend Near Madison

Back Back Back

b y K AT H L E E N T O L A N

Drama | 3m | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2008

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1983

“Warm, vital, glowing., full of wise ironies and unsentimental hopes.” - Newsweek

“No one plays King of the Hill more craftily than Itamar Moses.

Taut, beautifully modulated, and riveting, with the bewildering force of a curveball pitch.” - Time Out New York

Vanessa, the leader of a lesbian/feminist rock band pays a visit – with her younger lover – to the home of an old friend, a psychiatrist. Also on hand are the psychiatrist’s wife, a novelist suffering from writer’s block, and his brother, who was once Vanessa’s lover and loves her still. In the course of the weekend, Vanessa announces that she and her lover desperately want a child and attempts to persuade her former lover to be the father.

Before headlines blazed, before the Mitchell Report and ESPN lit up millions of television screens with the scandals, before congressional jaws dropped, comes the story of three guys making their way in the world of professional baseball – a world too competitive to rely solely on raw talent. What happens is a behind-the-headlines battle for their careers, their legacies, and the future of America’s favorite pastime.

by ITAMAR MOSES

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The Nether

by JENNIFER HALEY

Drama | 3m, 1f, 1g | 75 minutes | World Premiere 2013

The Nether is a virtual wonderland that provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity, and indulge your every desire. But when a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, she triggers an interrogation into the darkest corners of the imagination. The Nether is both a serpentine crime drama and haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of living out our private dreams.

WINNER - 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize NOMINEE - 2015 Olivier Award, Best Play “As a parable for where we’re headed on that big old highway in the digital sky, The Nether exerts a viselike grip, while taking you down avenues of thought you probably haven’t traveled yet.” – The New York Times “The Nether is a gripping and deeply disconcerting look at the Internet and its role in one of the most disturbing issues of our times.” – The Telegraph

Ben Rosenfield and Sophia Anne Caruso in The Nether at the Lucille Lortel Theater (MCC Production), 2015 (Jenny Anderson).

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Plays

Shrinking Violets and Towering Tiger Lilies

by TINA HOWE

THE PLAYS OF

Frank D. Gilroy The Subject Was Roses

Collection/Anthology | 6m, 14f, flexible casting

Drama | 2m, 1f | Full Length Play| B'way Premiere 1964

“To go through life as a woman is to be in distress most of the time, so these short plays alight on situations that are inherently distressing: doctor visits, photo shoots, looking for the right dress and navigating around swimming pools. Since we’re blessed with uncanny reserves of strength and imagination, we tend to emerge triumphant. One way or another these are comedies about transformation.” - Tina Howe

WINNER - 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Drama WINNER - 1965 Tony Award, Best Play

It's May, 1946 and Timmy Cleary has come home from the war to his estranged parents, John and Nettie, in the Bronx apartment where he grew up. As their reunion promises a return to life as it never was, John gives up a lucrative business opportunity to attend a ball game with his son. He grudgingly, at Timmy’s request, returns with roses for Nettie in an insincere attempt at reconciliation.

Reminiscing, the three attempt to recapture the past and all it symbolizes, but the ideal is shattered amidst recriminations. The next morning, Timmy announces he is leaving once again, and husband and wife must face the reality of life with only their memories.

Seven Brief Plays About Women in Distress: Appearances, The Divine Fallacy, Through A Glass Darkly, Teeth, Water Music, Milk and Water, and Skin Deep.

Rose’s Dilemma

by NEIL SIMON Comedy | 2m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2003

“Mr. Simon [produces] a brand of comedy that takes the sting out of mortal fears.” - The New York Times

In her beach house in the Hamptons, celebrated writer Rose Stern stands at a crossroads: She hasn’t written anything in years and money is getting short.

Her former lover, literary lion Walsh McLaren, offers her, from beyond the grave, an opportunity to regain her celebrity and gross millions. A touching and unpredictable romantic comedy.

AUGUST WILSON’s

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Any Given Day Drama | 6m, 3f | Full Length Play| B’way Premiere 1993

“A drama of soaring beauty and power., sprinkled with comedy.”

- Reuters

A household in the 1940s ruled by Mrs. Benti, a prescient and iron-willed widow, and her three adult children and illegitimate grandson, Willis, whom the others orbit like the sun. 18-year-old Willis is mentally impaired and in a wheelchair. He appears both younger and older as he presides in often startling and humorous ways over the conflicting dreams, desires, and passions that ebb and flow about him. The family appears to be making noble sacrifices on Willis’ behalf, but each is actually using him for selfish ends.

Additional Titles

Drama w/Music | 8m, 2f | Full Play Length| B’way Premiere 1984

“Searing, funny, salty, carnal and lyrical. Wilson has lighted a dramatic fuse that snakes and hisses through several anguished eras of American life.” - The New York Times

It’s 1927 in a rundown studio in Chicago where Ma Rainey is recording new sides of old favorites. More goes down in the session than music in this riveting portrayal of rage, racism, self-hate, and exploitation.

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Dreams of Glory Come Next Tuesday Getting In & Contact With the Enemy Give the Bishop My Faint Regards Match Point The Next Contestant Twas Brillig That Summer - That Fall Who'll Save the Plowboy?

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Musicals Plays

Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)

by SUZAN-LORI PARKS Drama | 8m, 2f | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2014

Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy, Hero, a slave, must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be yet another empty promise. As his decision brings him face-toface with a nation at war with itself, the loved ones Hero left behind debate whether to escape or wait for his return… only to discover that for Hero, free will may have come at a great spiritual cost. Father Comes Home From The Wars is an explosively powerful drama about the mess of war, the cost of freedom, and the heartbreak of love, with all three parts seen in one night. Part 1 introduces us to Hero. In Part 2, a band of rebel soldiers test Hero’s loyalty as the cannons approach.

Part 3 finds Hero’s loved ones anxiously awaiting his return.

From one of America’s most powerful writers comes this devastatingly beautiful dramatic work filled with music, wit, and great lyricism. An epic tale about holding on to who we are and what we love in a country that both brings us together and rips us apart.

“Extraordinary! The best new play I’ve seen all year. Suzan-Lori Park’s new play swoops, leaps, dives, and soars across three endlessly stimulating hours, reimagining a turbulent turning point in American history through a cockeyed contemporary lens. The finest work yet from this gifted writer.”

– The New York Times WINNER - 2015 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for a theatrical work inspired by American history WINNER - 2015 Obie Award for Playwriting FINALIST - 2015 Pulitzer Prize, Drama Sterling K. Brown and Jenny Jules (foreground), Julian Rozzell Jr. and Jeremie Harris

in Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) at The Public Theater, 2014 (Joan Marcus).

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45 Seconds From Broadway

KE N LUDWIG’s

Be My Baby

by NEIL SIMON

Comedy | 3m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2005

Comedy | 6m, 6f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 2001

“The 'don’t miss' show of the season, a funny, feel-good kind of show that makes you warm all over.” - Southwest News

“A warm-spirited tribute...a theatrical valentine.” - Variety

From America’s Master of Contemporary Broadway Comedy comes another revealing comedy behind the scenes in the entertainment world, this time near the heart of the theatre district. 45 Seconds from Broadway takes place in the legendary “Polish Tea Room” on New York’s 47th Street. Here Broadway theatre personalities, washed-up and on-the-rise, gather to schmooze. A touching valentine to New York that offers great acting roles.

John, an irascible Scotsman, and Maude, an uptight Englishwoman, set out on the journey of a lifetime.

They are brought together when his ward marries her niece and the older couple must travel to California to pick up their adopted child. John and Maude despise each other. They get stranded in San Francisco for several weeks and are expected to jointly care for the helpless newborn. There they form a new partnership and learn some startling lessons about life and love.

My First Time

The Final Toast

b y K E N D AV E N P O R T

by STUART M. KAMINSKY

Comedy | 4 performers | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2007

Mystery/Thriller | 6m, 2f, 1b | 75 minutes | World Premiere 2008

“Funny and touching to sweet, sexy and silly!” - The Village Voice

Hysterical and heartbreaking stories about first sexual experiences written by real people. In 1998, a decade before blogging began, a website was created that allowed people to anonymously share their own true stories about their First Times. The website became an instant phenomenon as over 40,000 stories poured in from around the globe that were silly, sweet, absurd, funny, heterosexual, homosexual, shy, sexy, and everything in between. These true stories and all of the unique characters in them are brought to life by four actors in this bare-it-all and hilarious play.

GET IN S P I RE D

If you’re anything like me, when you’re first starting out you’re going to write a lot of bad plays. But don’t resent them, the bad plays are what teach you how to write the good ones.

- Samuel D. H unter

WINNER - 2008 Angie Award for Playwriting

In a witty, imaginative story filled with twists and surprises, Sherlock Holmes unravels a murder only to find himself the unwilling target of the killer-atlarge. Along with the aid of his loyal and inquisitive companion, Dr. Watson, Holmes uses his masterful power of deduction to make a nebulous situation seem “simply elementary.” From this Edgar Prizewinning author, The Final Toast is an exciting new take on the classic characters of fiction we know and love, and its ending will please even the most savvy mystery connoisseurs.

Pocatello

by SAMUEL D. HUNTER Dramatic Comedy | 5m, 5f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2015

“Hunter... crafts Pocatello as if it were a Robert Altman film.”

- Entertainment Weekly

Eddie manages an Italian chain restaurant in Pocatello, a small, unexceptional city slowly being paved over with strip malls and franchises. But he can’t serve enough Soup, Salad & Breadstick Specials to make his hometown feel like home. Against the harsh backdrop of Hunter’s Idaho, this heartbreaking comedy is a cry for connection in an increasingly lonely America.

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Plays

The Mystery of Love & Sex

b y B AT H S H E B A D O R A N

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 2f | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2015

“Perfectly wonderful! Among the season’s finest plays. It is tender, funny, packed with humanity and brimming with surprising revelations.

Bathsheba Doran has written a play with such compassion and wry wisdom that I emerged from the theater into yet another frigid day feeling warmed from within.”

– The New York Times

Deep in the American South, Charlotte and Jonny have been best friends since they were nine. She’s Jewish, he’s Christian; he’s black, she’s white. Their differences intensify their connection until sexual desire complicates everything in surprising, compulsive ways.

An unexpected love story about where souls meet and the consequences of growing up.

Diane Lane and Gayle Rankin in The Mystery of Love & Sex at Lincoln Center Theater, 2015 (T. Charles Erickson).

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The Most Deserving A Feminine Ending b y C AT H E R I N E T R I E S C H M A N N

by SARAH TREEM

Comedy | 3m, 3f | 90 Minutes | World Premiere 2013

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2007

“Smart, hilarious, riveting!” - The New Yorker

“Courageous. The 90-minute piece swerves with nerve and naiveté.

Sarah Treem has a voice all her own.” - Newsday

A small town arts council has $20,000 to award to a local artist with an “under-represented American voice.” Should they choose the teacher/painter of modest talent or the self-taught artist who creates religious figures out of trash? This comedy explores how gossip, politics, and opinions of art can decide who is the most deserving.

Table Settings

Amanda wants to be a great composer. But her life of writing advertising jingles gets sidetracked when her mother calls and asks for her help with something she can’t discuss over the phone. Now her parents are getting divorced, her fiancé is almost famous, her first love reappears, and there’s a lot of noise in her head but none of it is music. A gentle, bittersweet comedy about a girl who knows what she wants but not quite how to get it.

by JAMES LAPINE Comedy |3m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1980

“If you have ever brought up a family or even if you have ever tried to bring up a family, I implore you to see Table Settings.”

- New York Post

A wildly funny comedy about three generations of a Jewish family. All the fast-paced action takes place around an all-purpose dining table, sometimes a restaurant table and other times the dining table of the Jewish mother to end all Jewish mothers. This highly acclaimed and long-running Off-Broadway success is a hysterical look at an American family.

Shakespeare for My Father b y LY N N R E D G R AV E Monologues | 1f | Full Length Play| B’way Premiere 1993

“Combines wit, technical skill and human feeling...the evening is sometimes heart churning, but laughter is never far away.”

- The London Times

Family reminiscences develop into a complex, funny and moving portrait of a child’s longing for the love of the inscrutable, daunting and charismatic Shakespearean actor who was her father. Acclaimed in America and Great Britain, the play weaves scenes from the Bard that delightfully coalesce with events in Ms. Redgrave’s young life, eliciting memories of Sir Michael and engaging impressions of the celebrated stars who frequented the Redgraves' home and lives.

The End of the Day

by JON ROBIN BAITZ Dramatic Comedy | 6m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1992

“Bleak yet hilarious... A field day for actors.” - The New York Times

This comic foray into greed and indifference stars a dissipated expatriate British doctor turned hustler in Los Angeles. When the cad abandons his Beverly Hills practice and rich wife, his former father-in-law, a gangster, demands repayment of the hefty sum spent to educate and set him up in practice. Upon traipsing off to England to beg from his estranged family, he eventually ties the evils of his worlds into one smashingly corrupt con that entangles international shipping, a movie studio, a priceless Stubbs canvas, a cocaine network, and a beneficent foundation.

Parents' Evening b y B AT H S H E B A D O R A N Dramatic Comedy | 1m, 1f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2010

“A compelling and absorbing new dramedy!” - TheaterMania

It’s dusk. Mother and Father are in their bedroom, dressing in preparation for Parents’ Evening at their only daughter’s primary school. During this rare opportunity to check in, the couple embarks on a volatile, passionate and surprising confrontation that challenges every one of their life choices. The play is a painfully witty, perceptive exploration of the landlines of parenting in modern marriage.

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Plays

The Old Neighborhood

The Captain’s Tiger

b y D AV I D M A M E T

“Charming... Admire The Captain’s Tiger and the lovely way in which it is told.” - New York Daily News

b y AT H O L F U G A R D Drama | 2m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1997

Drama | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1997

“This is Mamet unplugged. What we have, in essence, are three dialogues. And Mamet is of course, a virtuoso of dialogue.”

- New York Daily News

In these three short plays, middle-aged Bobby Gould returns to the old neighborhood in a series of encounters with his past that, however briefly, open windows on his present: Bobby and an old buddy fantasize about finding themselves in a nostalgic shtetl paradise. Bobby’s sister Jolly unscrolls a list of childhood grievances that is at once painful and hilarious. An old girlfriend, Deeny, finds herself obsessively freeassociating on gardening, sex, and subatomic particles.

On board the SS Graigaur, a young sailor begins to pen his first novel. Assisted by his muse, a portrait of his mother come to life, and supported by his friend, an illiterate ship’s mechanic, he struggles to balance romance and reality. This most personal of Athol Fugard’s works is strictly autobiographical, reflecting his attempts to come to terms with the conflicting emotions evoked by memories of his courageous mother and flawed father.

From Up Here

by LIZ FLAHIVE

A Very Rich Woman

Comedy | 4m, 4f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 2008

NOMINEE - 2008 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Best Play

by RUTH GORDON Comedy | 7m, 8f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1965

A Boston widow with a common background builds an enviable fortune the hard way. Being a veryspirited widow, she decides to have a fine old time with her money, giving away “diamonds, paintings, and taxi-cabs with fierce abandon, and buying an oversize yacht as if it were a boat for the bathtub.”

But, she has two lacquered daughters, her own Regan and Goneril, who are covetous of the family fortune and resent the manner in which she is enjoying it.

Milk Like Sugar

by KIRSTEN GREENIDGE

Kenny did something that has everyone worried. He wishes he could just make it through the rest of his senior year unnoticed, but that’s going to be hard since he has to publicly apologize to his entire school. At home, his mother is struggling with a rocky start to her second marriage and a surprise visit from her estranged sister. The story of a family limping out the door in the morning and coming home, no matter what.

The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence

by MADELEINE GEORGE

Drama | 2m, 5f | 90 Minutes | World Premiere 2008

Drama | 2m, 1f | 2 hours with intermission| World Premiere 2013

WINNER - 2012 Obie Award for Playwriting

On Annie Desmond’s 16th birthday, her friends decide to help her celebrate in style, complete with a brand new tattoo. Before her special night is over, however, Annie and her friends enter into a life altering pact. When Annie tries to make good on her promise to her friends, she is forced to take a good look at the world that surrounds her. In the end, Annie’s choices propel her on to an irreversible path in this story that combines wit, poetry, and hope.

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FINALIST - 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Watson: trusty sidekick to Sherlock Holmes; loyal engineer who built Bell’s first telephone; unstoppable super-computer that became reigning Jeopardy! champ; amiable techno-dweeb who, in the present day, is just looking for love. Four constant companions become one in this brilliantly witty, time-jumping, loving tribute (and cautionary tale) dedicated to the people, and machines, upon which we all depend.

THE PLAYS OF

Caryl Churchill God’s Ear

by JENNY SCHWARTZ

Love and Information Experimental | flexible casting | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2012

“Leave it to Ms. Churchill to come up with a work that so ingeniously and exhaustively mirrors our age of the splintered attention span.” - The New York Times

Someone sneezes. Someone can’t get a signal.

Someone won’t answer the door. Someone put an elephant on the stairs. Someone’s not ready to talk. Someone is her brother’s mother. Someone hates irrational numbers. Someone told the police.

Someone got a message from the traffic light.

Someone’s never felt like this before. In this fast moving kaleidoscope, more than 100 characters try to make sense of what they know.

Cloud 9

Comedy | 4m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1979

“Blends farce, pathos into a work of total theatre.”

- New York Daily News

Act I takes place in1880s Darkest but Victorian Africa, in a version of the British Empire as portrayed in old movies, plays, and novels. There is Clive, a British functionary; wife Betty (played by a man); daughter Victoria (a rag doll); son Edward (played by a woman) who still plays with dolls; and Joshua, his native servant who knows what’s really going on (played by a Caucasian man). Act II shifts to London in 1980, except for the surviving characters it is only 25 years later. The repressions of a the bygone era have evaporated along with the Empire.

Additional Titles Abortive Blue Heart (Anthology) Drunk Enough To Say I Love You Far Away Fen Ice Cream With Hot Fudge Light Shining in Buckinghamshire Mad Forest A Number The Skriker Top Girls Traps Vinegar Tom

Drama/Fantasy | 3m, 4f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2008

“A triumph! An adventurous, arresting new play!”

- The New York Times

A husband and wife have trouble coping with the loss of their son. They find themselves speaking in cliches and the husband travels to forget. The wife stays with their daughter and the tooth fairy and tries to figure out how to cope from home. Through intentionally clichéd language, the play gracefully explores the way the death of a child tears one family apart.

Out of the City b y L E S L I E AY V A Z I A N Comedy | 2m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2015

“There may be sex in the city, but stranger things happen in the forest primeval... Leslie Ayvazian takes this premise and runs with it.” - Talkin' Broadway

When Carol & Matt and Jill & Dan pay a visit to a B&B upstate to celebrate Carol’s 60th birthday, the two wives share an unexpected kiss. As the couples continue their vacation, respective marital issues are laid bare. What does a kiss really mean anyway?

A fast-moving farcical comedy that explores how a simple gesture can take on profound meaning for people who are taking everything for granted.

Somebody/Nobody

by JANE MARTIN Comedy | 1m, 5f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2008

“The script is wicked funny... Laughing your ass off is a fine way to spend an evening.” - Phoenix New Times

You think you want to be famous? So did teen idol and “shark-movie” star Sheena Keener, the darling of the press, the obsession of the paparazzi, and the Goddess of the “E! Channel.” Now she can’t stand to be looked at and her Godzilla of an agent is on the warpath.

When Sheena ends up on the doorstep of naïve Loli, it’s a wild ride on the road to fame. Sheena is a somebody who wants to be a nobody. Loli is a nobody desperate to be a somebody. A play that takes dead aim at our culture of celebrity.

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Plays

The Consultant

A Christmas Carol

by HEIDI SCHRECK

b y P AT R I C K B A R L O W

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

Drama |3m, 2f, flexible casting | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2012

“Crisp, funny and believable.” - The New York Times

“Patrick Barlow injects a lot of humor into the piece. This comedy takes place because Barlow doesn’t keep strictly to the original text as he take liberties with language, the situation and, of course, the mood of the play.” - Saratogian Theatre

After a series of brutal layoffs at Sutton, Feingold and McGrath, a precocious young consultant is brought in to save a middle-aged ad man’s job, and maybe his life. This hilarious and keenly observed play takes an intimate look at how money and work shape the human heart – and what we owe to others when everything around us is falling apart.

Acting: The First Six Lessons b y E M I LY B R I D G E S & B E A U B R I D G E S Dramatic Comedy | 1m, 1f | 75 minutes | World Premiere 2010

“[This play] should be seen twice, once to enjoy the story and again to learn the lessons that work equally well in life as on stage... Rare and Wonderful!” - Examiner.com

This thrilling adaptation uses only five actors to bring some of Dickens’ most beloved characters to life. Barlow’s A Christmas Carol uses nothing more than some simple props, fresh physicality, and the power of imagination to convey this timeless story of redemption. Witness Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from a stingy miser to a man who celebrates the spirit of the season all year long, in this highly theatrical adaptation.

Disassembly

by STEVE YOCKEY Dark Comedy | 3m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2011

A stage version of Richard Boleslavsky’s 1933 narrative about a dedicated acting teacher who, while instructing a young actress in her craft, gives her valuable lessons for living as well. The action moves from the teacher’s studio to a small theater to a film set to Central Park and back, and finally, to a moving denouement atop the Empire State Building in 1936.

Dog Opera

Evan is what you would call “accident-prone.”

Having suffered from various injuries his entire life, he's now been randomly stabbed. In his apartment, his twin sister and his fiancée are trying to help him recover while fending off a stream of visitors and a bitter neighbor with a thing for stuffed cats.

Something isn't quite adding up though. As the morning descends into a buzz of secrets and lies, this dark farce quickly becomes a brutally funny commentary on how violence can take hold of just about anyone.

The Radical Mystique

by CONSTANCE CONGDON Comedy | 5m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1995

by ARTHUR LAURENTS

“A singular work created by an imagination of redeeming freedom and eccentricity.” - The New York Times

Drama | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1995

Peter and Madeline have been friends since they were teenagers in Queens. Though more loving than most couples, they are incompatible: Peter is gay and hides behind snappy retorts. Maddie feeds her lack of selfesteem with Oreos and is drawn to men who treat her badly. The play follows their interactions with Maddie’s alcoholic mother, Peter’s father, various lovers, pickups, and friends with AIDS, while Jackie, a homeless teenager, addresses the audience as a Greek Chorus to throw everyone’s problems into perspective.

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“Achingly earnest comedy of manners.... His concern is nothing less than the way in which the most basic relationships are sustained by lies.” - The New York Times

In the New York of the late ’60s when the term “radical chic” was coined by Tom Wolfe, friends Josie and Janice are arranging a party to aid the Black Panthers’ Self Defense Fund. In the process, their complacency is shaken and they are forced to confront things they would prefer to leave alone.

Ready to license? Visit samuelfrench.com.

THE PLAYS OF

Agatha Christie

2015 marked the 125th Anniversary of Agatha Christie: the bestselling author in history, writer of 91 novels, and one of the theatre’s most prolific playwrights. Samuel French is pleased to offer her entire collection of mysteries for the stage. Here you’ll find The Mousetrap, the longest running play in theatre history, and plays based on her novels that the Queen of Crime adapted herself. Whether you’re crawling under the covers each night with a Christie tale or looking for a story to produce for the stage, Agatha Christie’s titles are sure to keep you in suspense.

And Then There Were None

6m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1943

Appointment with Death

9m, 7f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1945

Ten guilty strangers are trapped on an island. One by one they are accused of murder; one by one they start to die.

Statuettes of little soldier boys on the mantel of a house on an island off the coast of Devon fall to the floor and break one by one as those in the house succumb to a diabolical avenger. A nursery rhyme tells how each of the ten “soldiers” met his death until there were none. Eight guests who have never met each other or their apparently absent host and hostess are lured to the island and, along with the two house servants, marooned.

An assorted group of travelers are staying at a Jerusalem hotel: Lady Westholme and her companion; a young English doctor and her French colleague; a debonair American; and a pugnacious Lancashireman. Another guest, Mrs. Boynton, is a domineering American invalid with four stepchildren whose facade of devotion masks their hatred for her.

When Mrs. Boynton is found dead, all are suspects even though she was ill enough to die a natural death.

Black Coffee

10m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1930

The story concerns a physicist named Sir Claude Amory who has come up with a formula for an atom bomb. In the first act, Sir Claude is poisoned (in his coffee, naturally) and Hercule Poirot is called in to solve the case. He does so after many wonderful twists and turns in true Christie fashion.

Go Back for Murder

6m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1960

The Hollow

6m, 6f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1951

Love from a Stranger

4m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1936

Imprisoned for poisoning her husband 15 years earlier, Caroline Crale finds herself at death’s door and writes a letter expressing her undeniable innocence to her daughter Carla. Carla, aided by Justin Fogg – a former admirer of Caroline – persuades those present on the day of her father’s death to return to the scene of the crime. When the witnesses reassemble, Fogg discovers the identity of the true murderer, and Carla discovers her true feelings for Fogg.

An unhappy game of romantic follow-the-leader explodes into murder one weekend at The Hollow, home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell. Dr. Cristow is at the center of the trouble when his mistress Henrietta, ex-mistress Veronica, and wife Gerda, simultaneously arrive at The Hollow. Also visiting are Edward and Midge. Veronica ardently desires to marry Cristow and succeeds in reopening their affair but is unable to get him to divorce his wife. Veronica unwisely states that if she cannot have him, no one shall. Within five minutes Cristow is dead. Nearly everyone has a motive and most had the opportunity.

Cecily Harrington’s fiancé is traveling in the Sudan when she wins a big prize in a sweepstake and decides to postpone the wedding to spend a portion of the money on a European trip. During her travels, she meets Bruce Lovell, who sweeps the romance-craving Cecily off her feet, marries her, and takes her to his out-of-the-way cottage in the country.

However, Lovell is not the charming gentleman he appears to be. Instead, he is a homicidal maniac of the most eerie, repulsive type. He is resolved to murder his new wife, just as he has murdered several other women before her.

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Plays

The Mousetrap

5m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1952

A Murder Is Announced

5m, 7f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1977

Murder on the Nile

8m, 5f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1944

A group of strangers is stranded in a boarding house during a snowstorm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions in their minds nearly wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. Into their midst comes a policeman, traveling on skis.

An announcement in the local paper states the time and place when a murder is to occur in Miss Blacklock’s Victorian house. The victim is not one of the house’s several occupants, but an unexpected and unknown visitor. What follows is a classic Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities, a second death, a determined Inspector grimly following the twists and turns, and Miss Marple on hand to provide the final solution at some risk to herself in a dramatic confrontation just before the final curtain.

Simon Mostyn has recently married Kay Ridgeway, a rich woman, having thrown over his former lover Jacqueline.

The couple are on their honeymoon on a paddle steamer on the Nile, accompanied by a bevy of memorable characters.

Among those present are Canon Pennefather, Kay’s guardian, and Jacqueline, who has been dogging their footsteps all through the honeymoon. During the voyage Jacqueline works herself into a state of hysteria and shoots at Simon, wounding him in the knee. A few moments later Kay is found shot in her bunk. By the time the boat reaches its destination, Canon Pennefather has laid bare an audacious conspiracy and has made sure the criminals shall not go free.

Rule of Three

Trilogy | 5m, 4f | Short Plays | World Premiere 1962

The Rule of Three is a collection of the three short plays Afternoon At The Seaside, The Rats, and The Patient.

Spider’s Web

5m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1954

The Unexpected Guest

7m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1958

Verdict

6m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1958

Witness for the Prosecution

8m, 5f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1953

Clarissa, the second wife of Henry Hailsham Brown, is adept at spinning tales of adventure for their bored diplomatic circle. When a murder takes place in her drawing room she finds live drama much harder to cope with, especially as she suspects the murderer might be her young stepdaughter Pippa. Worse still, the victim is the man who broke up Henry’s first marriage! Clarissa’s fast talking creates some hair-raising experiences, as she comes to learn that the facts are much more terrifying than fiction.

A thriller as well as a puzzler set in a foggy estate in Wales, this mystery opens as a stranger walks into a house to find a man murdered and his wife standing over him with a gun. But the woman is dazed and her confession is unconvincing.

The unexpected guest decides to help her and blame the murder on an intruder. Later, the police discover clues that point to a man who died two years previously, and a Pandora’s box of love and hate, suspicion and intrigue is opened in the night air.

Karl Hendryk, a brilliant professor, attends to his wife Anya, an invalid suffering from a progressive disease. When Karl’s cousin Lisa moves in to assist in caring for Anya, tensions rise and feelings are quick to develop.

Leonard Vole stands in the dock, accused of murder. His wife can prove his innocence but when she takes the stand she denies his alibi. Can he escape the hangman’s noose?

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Guilty Pleasures The Theatre of Agatha Christie

by Gregory Boyd The Artistic Director of Houston’s Alley Theatre shares his love for the Queen of Crime’s theatrical mysteries.

A

gatha Christie, it has been said, holds the claim of being history’s most successful playwright – more successful perhaps even than Moliere, Shaw, or Coward – and based on the ongoing London run of the original production of The Mousetrap, which holds the world record for the longest running play (over 25,000 performances to date), perhaps even more than that other English dramatist we hear so much about.

Her name on a theater marquee has always interested audiences, but a bit of a dismissive attitude

is evidenced when one mentions Christie to most theatre professionals. I’m happy to say I do not share this prejudice.

Perhaps that’s because one of my first theatre-going memories was a San Francisco production of And Then There Were None that frightened the sense out of me when I was eight. Ever since, I have loved the plays. Working on them has made me respect them. They have a rock-solid technique and structure, and though they seem to operate in the same hermetically sealed environment, populated by the same sturdy character types, behaving in the same suspicious manner, I find their formal similarities comforting and the working out of her scrupulously planned plots reassuring. But mostly, they are popular because they are tremendous fun to watch.

Christie wrote 16 plays, and many of her novels have provided the jumping-off point for countless other stage and film adaptations.

The first theatrical version of a Christie mystery opened in London in May 1928. It was an adaptation

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of her 1926 detective novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and marked the stage debut of her Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, played by the young Charles Laughton.

Christie disliked the play and Laughton’s impersonation of her hero and decided to write her own Poirot stage thriller. The result was Black Coffee, which premiered in 1930. This was not only her first play but also the only one to feature Poirot.

Her next theatrical effort was Ten Little Indians (produced at the Alley as And Then There Were None), wherein she reworked the climax of her 1939 novel to create one of the most ingenious stage mysteries ever – a sensational hit in London and New York in the 1943-44 season. Many film versions followed – the best by far being Rene Clair’s (also titled And Then There Were None).

Three stage adaptations she herself made of novels featuring Poirot followed: Appointment with Death (1945), Death on the Nile (1946) and The Hollow (1951). But in adapting

F eatures

her own novels for the theatre, Christie removed Poirot. She explained the change this way: “I had got used to having Poirot in my books, and he did his stuff all right, but how much better, I kept thinking, would the book have been without him. So when I came to sketch out the play, out went Poirot.”

For her next theatre piece she turned to her short story “Three Blind Mice,” which had been a radio play, written in 1947 for one of her greatest fans, Queen Mary.

For the stage adaptation, Christie borrowed her title, The Mousetrap, from a line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to avoid copyright issues. The play created the high-water mark in the history of British thrillers when it opened in London on November 25, 1952, and has since been produced almost everywhere in the world. It is still running in London, and shows no signs of flagging – a record that will surely be impossible to match.

She followed this extraordinary success with another: Witness for the

Prosecution (Alley 2006), which she considered one of her best efforts

One of the chief

pleasures of the summer season is to watch audience members lean forward in their seats as they match wits with a writer who takes her amusing entertainments seriously.

for the stage. It had long runs in London and New York, and was made into one of the finest Christie films by Billy Wilder. Christie was then approached to write a stage vehicle for Margaret Lockwood (the star of Hitchcock’s superb The Lady Vanishes). The result was Spider’s Web (Alley 1998) – unique in Christie’s stage work in that it is a comedy/mystery. Towards Zero (Alley 2000) followed, co-authored

by Christie and Gerald Verner, adapted from her novel, and it, and her 1956 original thriller The Unexpected Guest (Alley 2008), were her last stage successes. She was by then in her late 60s and, though still producing a novel each year,

27

her stage career was winding down.

The snobbish attitude toward Christie’s theatre writing seems to be disappearing. Billy Wilder, quoted in a recent biography, urged New Hollywood (whose sense of scrupulous storytelling has been almost irredeemably lost) to pay attention to the sheer technical craft of her writing and her plots.

And I know that our audiences have enthusiastically embraced the Christie plays we have mounted; one of the chief pleasures of the summer season is to watch audience members – young and old – lean forward in their seats as they match wits with a writer who takes her amusing entertainments seriously.

This article appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, September 2015, and was reprinted with permission from the Alley Theatre.

Photos courtesy of the Alley Theatre. From left: Mark Shanahan and Laura E. Campbell in Agatha Christie’s The Hollow, 2013 (Jann Whaley); Josie de Guzman and James Black in Agatha Christie’s The Hollow, 2013 (Jann Whaley); Laura Campbell and James Black in Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee, 2012 (Jann Whaley); John Tyson, Todd Waite, Josie de Guzman, and James Black in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, 2011 (Jann Whaley).

The Drunken City

by ADAM BOCK Comedy | 3m, 3f | 90 minutes| World Premiere 2008

“Bock’s dialogue displays a poetic sensibility while staying rooted in everyday language; fragments, incomplete thoughts, and sudden realizations...are all utilized to create heightened but natural sounding conversation.” - TheaterMania

The Night Hank Williams Died

by LARRY L. KING Dramatic Comedy | 4m, 2f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 1989

“Amusing and ultimately poignant. The play is itself a plaintive country western song.” - The New York Times

On the bar crawl to end all crawls, three 20-something brides-to-be find their lives going topsy-turvy when one of them begins to question her future after a chance encounter with a recently jilted handsome stranger. A wildly theatrical take on the mystique of marriage and the ever-shifting nature of love and identity in a city that never sleeps.

Thurmond Stottle pumps gas in a tiny West Texas town and dreams of making it as a songwriter and country singer like his hero, the late Hank Williams.

He whiles away his free time in Gus Gilbert’s bar and waits for the right moment to take off for Nashville.

The moment arrives with Nellie, his ex-sweetheart who returns home.

Naomi Court b y M I C H A E L S AW Y E R

All Hail Hurricane Gordo

Drama | 4m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1975

b y C A R LY M E N S C H

“What the theatre is all about... A gut experience, tense, unnerving, unexpected... It is a play to see.” - New York Post

Comedy | 3m, 1f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2008

A lonely spinster dreams of an imaginary love, marriage, and suicide; while her elderly gay neighbor fantasizes of being robbed and brutalized by a piece of “rough trade.” Two vignettes of wasted lives set amidst the condemned Naomi Court Apartments.

The Village Bike

by PENELOPE SKINNER Dark Comedy | 3m, 3f | 120 minutes | US Premiere 2014

“Skinner is addressing a difficult theme head on, often with wit and verbal authenticity.” - Vulture

Becky is pregnant and friskier than ever. But she can’t seem to get the attention of her husband, who is more interested in the baby manual than her new underwear. As her husband prepares for the baby’s months-away arrival, Becky takes matters into her own hands. In the heat of the summer, she sets out on an adventure that starts with the purchase of a used bike from a man in town and takes her further than she ever expected she’d go. A provocative and darkly comic look at fantasy and desire, and speeding downhill toward reckless abandon.

“All hail a new, energetic and often very funny voice in the American theater.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer

The routines of daily life get blown apart when two brothers take in a plucky, young houseguest. While India is running away from her relatively normal family, Chaz is struggling to find normalcy in the one he already has. Is it possible to be your brother’s keeper and have a life too?

EDWARD A LBEE’s

Occupant Dramatic Comedy | 1m, 1f | 75 minutes| World Premiere 2008

“Occupant bows its head in awe and gratitude before the mysterious force of will that allows great artists to be.”

- The New York Sun

The public accomplishments and private emotional conflicts of flamboyant sculptor Louise Nevelson are thoroughly examined by an unnamed interviewer who questions the posthumous artist with unabashed scrutiny. From her unique vantage point beyond the grave, Nevelson answers queries with a clarity born of the distance provided by death. A touching, humorous, and honest tribute to a woman who was a pioneer for free-thinking females everywhere.

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Plays AUGUST WILSON’s

The Radiant

The Piano Lesson

by SHIRLEY LAURO Drama | 2m, 2f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2011

Drama | 5m, 3f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1990

WINNER - 2010 TCG Edgerton Award: “One of 40 new American plays to watch.”

WINNER -1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

The true, tempestuous, and love-torn life of Madame Marie Curie. Widowed at 39, with two young children to raise, she becomes involved in a scandalous affair, which rocks Paris and nearly costs her her career – and her life. She survives this and the great bias against women scientists in Europe, going on to discover radium, earn two Nobel Prizes, and revolutionize the world of science forever, ushering in “The Atomic Age.”

Last Dance

1936, Boy Willie arrives in Pittsburgh from the South in a battered truck loaded with watermelons to sell. He wants to sell an old piano that has been in his family for generations, but he shares ownership with his sister and it sits in her living room. She has rejected several offers because the antique piano is covered with incredible carvings detailing the family’s rise from slavery. Boy Willie tries to persuade his stubborn sister that the past is past, but she is more formidable than he anticipated.

by MARSHA NORMAN

The Quality of Life

Comedy | 2m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2003

by JANE ANDERSON

“A love poem to a vanishing world of Southern graciousness and eccentricity.” - The New York Times

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 2f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 2007

An aging but beautiful poet from the American South who now lives on the coast of France has decided to give away her young lover. But how can this be? Her goddaughter thinks she has actually fallen in love with a local fisherman while her dashing friend believes she is finally ready to accept his proposal. A bittersweet comedy of manners and musing on what a smart woman might really want toward the end of her life.

Earthy and high-spirited Jeannette lives with her husband Neil, who is dying of cancer in a yurt after a wildfire burns their house down. When her cousin Dinah from Ohio comes for a visit with her husband, Bill, the two couples – one solidly on the left, the other resolute in their conservative Christian beliefs – are made to confront their huge dissimilarities and the ways they each struggle to keep their lives intact.

WINNER - 2007 LA Drama Critic Circle, Ted Schmitt Award

GET INS PIRED

Geek!

Always write what you want and be specific with your

by CRYSTAL SKILLMAN writing time – let yourself Drama | 2m, 4f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2013 discover your process. Know “An honest and often hilarious exploration of the complicated, fantasythat much of that discovery is fueled, online world teens inhabit today.” - Time Out New York what doesn’t work. It will lead you to what does work! Some To score a rare meeting with their comic book idol, plays will come slow, some teenage outcasts Dayna and Honey will take on quick, but know your play is obsessive Magic players, Jedi, elves, cosplayers and a wonderful, breathing, living convention guards – through all nine flights of Ohio’s Photo: Jody Christopherson thing. If you show how much Dante’s Fire Con. But when the dark nature of their you value it when you speak of your work others quest breaks through the fantasy of their cosplaying, will see this too, even if it’s not perfect at first. And they find that no game can mask the deep loss they’ve know that plays rarely are! Don’t be afraid to be a recently shared, unless they truly discover who they are. leader. If you’re a playwright, you already are!

- Crystal Skillman

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My Old Lady

by ISRAEL HOROVITZ Drama | 1m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2002

“A triangular tug-of-war with professional savvy.” - The New York Times

A down on his luck middle-aged man inherits an apartment in Paris and must live with the elderly woman who has inhabited it for decades. There, he learns friendship, falls in love, and must finally deal with the death of his father.

Wilder’s Classic One Acts

by THORNTON WILDER Collection/Anthology, Available Individually

The Whale

by SAMUEL D. HUNTER Drama | 12m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2012

WINNER - 2013 Lucille Lortel Award, Best Play

On the outskirts of Mormon Country, Idaho, a 600 pound recluse hides away in his apartment, and slowly eats himself to death. Desperate to reconnect with his long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her only to find a viciously sharp-tongued and wildly unhappy teen. Big-hearted and fiercely funny, the story of a man’s last chance at redemption, and of finding beauty in the most unexpected places.

Cowboy Versus Samurai

“Wilder’s tone is dry, fond; if God were to dabble in anthropology, and the recording angels to write with wry humor and infinite tolerance of human folly, this is how the holy books would read.”

- The New York Times

by MICHAEL GOLAMCO

This collection of Wilder’s most famous one act plays includes: The Long Christmas Dinner, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, Pullman Car Hiawatha, Queens of France, Such Things Only Happen in Books, and Love and How to Cure It. In these mini-masterpieces, Wilder experiments with techniques and dramatic forms he would later develop in his celebrated fulllength works. Among these plays we encounter a first glimpse of Wilder’s Stage Manager; his use of pantomime, minimal scenery, and farce; as well as his signature connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of the human experience.

Travis Park is a high school English teacher and the only Korean-American man living in a dusty cowboy town known as Breakneck, Wyoming. When a gorgeous, whip-smart Asian American woman moves into town, he immediately falls for her; the only problem is she only dates white men. One man must choose allegiance between his cowboy friend and his Asian Brotherwith-a-Capital-B. He must choose between the Asian American and the American within himself, between cowboy and samurai.

Rose

by LORING MANDEL & ALLEN DRURY

b y A N D R E W D AV I E S Comedy |3m, 5f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1981

“That rare thing, a play about a modern woman which is not patronizing, preaching and predatory.” - London Daily Mail

Rose is an English elementary school teacher who is dissatisfied with her life. But after an affair and a divorce, she must confront the consequences of her ennui; and begins to wonder if some of her disenchantment with life is her own fault.

Ready to license? Visit samuelfrench.com.

Comedy | 3m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2005

“A gentle, genial, frequently wise comedy of character and race.”

- The Village Voice

Advise and Consent Drama | 18m, 4f, 12m or f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1960

“Big, bold, rough, tough, very exciting.... You’ll be on the edge of your seat.” - The New York Herald Tribune

A political drama depicting the debate sparked when controversial candidate Robert Leffingwell is nominated as U.S. Secretary of State. As concerns are aired during the Senate investigation of Leffingwell’s qualifications, Senator Brig Anderson, the head of the committee, soon finds the proceedings descending into heated exchanges, with various politicians trying to further their own agendas. An inside look at politics behind closed doors in Washington, D.C.

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Plays

The Four of Us

by ITAMAR MOSES

Dramatic Comedy | 2m | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2007

WINNER - 2008 Outstanding New Play, San Diego Critics Circle Awards “A clever comic drama with a nifty twist...a touching, appealing play.”

– The New York Times “An extremely clever and enjoyable study of friendship...funny, touching, and wickedly smart.” – Time Out New York

“Itamar Moses is just one hell of a playwright, and this coy little game of a play benefits from his extraordinary wit.” – Chicago Reader

What if all your dreams came true...for your best friend? The Four of Us follows Ben, whose first novel vaults him into literary stardom, and his friend David, a struggling playwright, who is thrilled by Ben’s success...and crushed by it. From the dreams of aspiring youth to the realities of adulthood, this poignant two-man comedy explores friendship and memory, the gap between our hopes and our lives, and the struggles between our egos and our capacity to love.

Photo: Sean Dugan and Gideon Banner in The Four of Us, The Old Globe, San Diego, CA, 2007 (Craig Schwartz).

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THE PLAYS OF

Adrienne Kennedy “With Beckett gone, Adrienne Kennedy is probably the boldest artist now writing for the theater.”

– Michael Feingold, The Village Voice, 1995

Funnyhouse of a Negro

Drama/Experimental | 3m, 5f | 40 minutes | World Premiere 1964

A modern classic about the student Sarah, a young black woman living in New York City, and her search for her identity in a very complex, warring, and fractured world. This search is manifested in her many selves: Queen Victoria, the Duchess of Hapsburg, Patrice Lumumba, and Jesus Christ. Performed by colleges worldwide, this landmark play speaks to students trying to find a place in the world. WINNER - 1964 Obie for Distinguished Play

Diary of Lights: New York About 1955

Drama/Play with music | 6m, 4f | 120 Minutes | World Premiere 1978

A series of scenes that depict a group of friends during one evening in New York City in the mid-fifties. Part dramatic literature, part dance, and part musical theatre, Diary of Lights is a window into a part of American culture, expressed through the unique voice of one of America’s most formidable dramatists.

She Talks to Beethoven

Drama/Experimental | 1m, 1f |30 minutes | World Premiere 1989

Set in Ghana, Suzanne waits in her room listening to radio broadcasts about her husband, who has mysteriously disappeared, while she attempts to write about and communicate with composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Her world is infiltrated by snatches of Ghanaian string music, the revolutionary words of Frantz Fanon and strains of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” Suzanne, recovering from an unspecified illness, hovers in displaced time and space fluctuating between Vienna, Austria in 1803, and Accra, Ghana in 1961.

Ohio State Murders

Drama | 2m, 3f | 75 minutes | World Premiere 1992

Suzanne Alexander, is an African American writer whose life both is and is not like her author’s. When Suzanne enters Ohio State University in 1949, little does she know what the supposed safe haven of academia holds in store. Years later, Suzanne is invited to return to the university to talk about the violence in her writing. A dark mystery unravels. The play is an intriguing, unusual, and chilling look at the destructiveness of racism in the U.S.

Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles?

Drama/Experimental | 1m, 1f |60 minutes | World Premiere 2008

co-written with A DAM P. KENNEDY

Adrienne Kennedy relates her star-studded experience of moving to London and working on The Lennon Play: In His Own Write. Her absolute astonishment at being thrust in among the rich and famous of the theatre and film world is refreshing and charming. A great story, told in an interview-style conversation between a mother and son.

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Plays

Adult Entertainment

Bad Jews

b y E L A I N E M AY

“There’s nothing like a death in the family to bring out the worst in people. The Best Comedy of the Season!” - The New York Times

by JOSHUA HARMON Comedy | 2m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2012

Comedy | 3m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2002

“May’s best work...surprises us with humanity in the midst of the ridiculous... It’s the comedy of the year.” - New York Post

There’s a cloud over Porn Queen, Heidi the Ho’s usually cheery cable TV show. Her guests are wearing armbands to mourn the passing of their employer and mentor, a legendary porn filmmaker. Tired of working for others, this motley group of adult video veterans decides to write and shoot their own extravaganza, an “art” film. Unexpected ideas develop as the hilarity escalates to a raucous and riotous conclusion.

The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal (sometimes physical) battle. In one corner is Daphna Feygenbam, a “Real Jew” who is volatile, self-assured, and unbending. In the other is her equally stubborn cousin Liam, a secular and entitled young man, who has his shiksa girlfriend, Melody, in tow. Stuck in the middle is Liam’s brother, Jonah, who tries to stay out of the fray. When Liam stakes claim to their grandfather’s Chai necklace, a vicious and hilarious brawl over family, faith, and legacy ensues.

Chasing Manet

The Holy Terror

by TINA HOWE

b y S I M O N G R AY

Comedy | 3m, 4f |Full Length Play | World Premiere 2009

Dramatic Comedy | 4m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1991

“Has an inspirational message at its core concerning the potential that lives in us all, no matter what the barriers.” - NYTheatre.com

“A humorous and harrowing depiction of an emotional breakdown.” - Arizona Daily Star

A rebellious painter from a distinguished family in Boston and an ebullient Jewish woman with a huge, adoring family form an unlikely bond. Inside the confining walls of Mount Airy Nursing Home, the two plot an escape to Paris aboard the QE2. Can they pull it off amidst the chaos of their surroundings?

The play begins as a lecture being delivered by Mark Melon to an English women’s club wherein he recounts how he took over a respected but financially shaky publishing house and ruthlessly streamlined it by firing everyone in sight. The events described then come to life. Melon, who appears at first to be just another ruthless businessman, is actually insane.

Losing his job, wife, and family, he may have found some shred of his soul.

Samsara

by LAUREN YEE

Sorrows of Stephen

Comedy | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2015

“There’s a throbbing play here with a bleeding heart and a laudable awareness of how we sometimes only get one shot at happiness or escape, and of how macroeconomics and geopolitics don’t always embrace personal need.” - Chicago Tribune

by PETER PARNELL Comedy | 4m, 5f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1980

“Sophisticated and sentimental, with an ageless attitude toward the power of positive love.” - The New York Times

Katie and Craig are having a baby…with a surrogate…who lives in India. A month before the baby’s due date, Craig reluctantly travels to the subcontinent, where he meets Suraiya, their young, less-than-thrilled surrogate. As all three “parents” anxiously wait for the baby to be born, flights of fancy attack them from all sides, in the form of an unctuous Frenchman and a smart-mouthed fetus. A whimsical take on modern day colonialism.

Stephen is a headstrong, impetuous, irrepressible romantic, unable not to be in love. One of his models is Goethe’s tragic hero Werther, but as a young, contemporary New Yorker he’s adaptable. He makes a romantic stab at a female cab driver, passes an assignation note to an unknown lady at the opera, flirts with an accessible waitress, and then has a tragic-withcomic-overtones affair with his best friend’s fiancée.

33

by HANNAH BOS & PAUL THUREEN developed by OLIVER BUTLER

A View From 151st Street

Dark Comedy | 3m, 3f | 75 minutes | World Premiere 2012

by BOB GLAUDINI

“[A] theatrical cocktail, as tasty as it is esoteric. Fix us another round.” - The Village Voice

Drama | 5m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2007

Blood Play

A tranquil suburban evening in the early 1950s: the kids are away on a Junior Cherokee camping trip and a string of coincidences leads to a spontaneous grown-up party in the basement of a new ranch house. Exotic cocktails are imbibed, raucous games are played, and new friends are made, but much is happening that no one is talking about. And something is stirring underground. Blood Play is a darkly comic thriller of post-war verve and preadolescent disquiet, created by New York’s criticallylauded The Debate Society.

G E T INS P I RE D

“In showing how those who fall into the underworld withdraw from the embrace of friends and family, [Glaudini] finds a potent image to illustrate the dehumanizing effects of drugs.”

- The New York Times

An undercover cop is undergoing rehabilitation after a shot to the head. As he re-learns words and recovers his memories, a coke dealer turned wannabe rapper spins into a downward spiral. Incorporating elements of spoken word poetry, the play takes a look at life and death on the titular street in uptown Manhattan.

Better Late

by LARRY GELBART Drama | 3m, 1f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2008

“A breezy entertainment on serious themes, Larry Gelbart’s Better Late explores love, divorce, aging and death with a mature sensibility and a decidedly mainstream comedic tone...always diverting and admirably unsentimental.” - Variety

Ideas can come to you at the strangest moments so keep a small notebook with you on the subway and keep your eyes open. Listen to the world.

Write about what moves you. You can write about things that people don’t write plays about. In fact, it’s probably better that way. If something is exciting to you, you really love it, or it makes you feel scared or alive or weird...write about it. Talk to old people.

Have them talk about their lives. You don’t have to know where it’s going to end up. You’ll figure that out later. Just start writing and see where it goes.

- Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen Licensing restrictions may apply to certain titles.

Julian is forced to move in with his ex-wife and her new husband in order to recuperate from a sudden illness. With each passing day, the awkward situation spirals further and further out of control. As the laughter builds, the question becomes: how long will Julian have to stay? A bitingly funny look at a December-December-December romance.

Two Thousand Years

by MIKE LEIGH Dramatic Comedy | 5m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2008

“A funny, sad and affecting play about faith and family - and the nuttiness and resilience of each.” - New York Daily News

An upperclass secular Jewish family in England is forced to face their complicated relationship with their religion (or lack thereof) when their son decides to become orthodox at the age of 28. When their daughter, a successful freelance interpreter, brings home a secular Israeli boyfriend, things are complicated even further by the family’s heated discussions regarding the politics of Israel.

34

Plays

Coastal Disturbances

Precious Sons

by TINA HOWE

“Furth creates convincing people and he appreciates the timeless give and take of family life, its perilous candor and its resilience.” - Time

by GEORGE FURTH Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1986

Comedy | 3m, 4f, 1b, 1g | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1986

“Generously illuminates the intimate landscape between men and women.” -The New York Times

A charming ensemble play that follows four generations of vacationers on a Massachusetts beach, focusing on a romance between a lifeguard and a kooky young photographer.

The Awesome 80s Prom

A finely wrought autobiographical drama about a Chicago family’s financial struggles in the late 1940s.

Fred Small has a chance for a promotion that would necessitate moving to another city. His youngest son is caught between his desire to be an actor and his father’s determination that he finish high school and go to college. Bea, the wife and mother, has her own ideas about how the family should be run.

Mr. Bundy

by JANE MARTIN

b y K E N D AV E N P O R T Interactive Comedy | 12m, 8f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2004

WINNER - 2006 Improv Theater Award, Best Interactive Show

A blast-from-the-past party in the style of Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding and The Donkey Show set at Wanaget High’s Senior Prom...in 1989! All your favorite characters from your favorite ’80s movies are there, from the Captain of the Football Team to the Asian Exchange Student, from the Geek to the hottie Head Cheerleader. They’re all competing for Prom King and Queen. And just like on American Idol, the audience decides who wins!

Drama | 3m, 3f, 1g | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1998

“Martin again fleshes out thorny issues with a vivid human dimension, involving an audience and preventing us from accepting easy conclusions.” - Palm Beach Post

A mother and father who learn that the next door neighbor is a convicted child molester consider both vigilance and vigilantism before being forced into action by a pair of child advocacy crusaders.

The shocking climax hits a raw nerve, leaving the audience to consider where the line between right and wrong lies.

Far From The Madding Crowd

The Milliner

Drama | 3m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2006

by SUZANNE GLASS

“A nuanced perspective on a moment in history that is often reduced to simple good versus evil.” - The New York Times

A fragile portrait of a group rarely seen in traditional Holocaust literature: those who are unwilling to give up Germany as their home, despite the Nazi threats.

Wolfgang, a hatmaker, is forced by others to flee Germany for England, leaving his mother behind, who refuses to go. Filled with love for his homeland, he is unable to accept that she has probably been interned in a death camp, and he staunchly refuses to give up his German identity in front of his new British neighbors. Wolfgang’s struggle of adamant denial sheds light on the agony of losing the home one knows and loves.

35

by JESSICA SWALE adapted from the novel by T H O M A S H A R D Y Drama | 5m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2015

“Strongly conveys the novel’s pastoral atmosphere, its gallery of contoured characters and its earthy humour.” - The Guardian

When Bathsheba Everdene inherits a farm from her uncle, no one expects her to run it alone. But our spirited young heroine will not be deterred and eagerly takes up the gauntlet. She rises impressively to the challenges of sheep farming, but the trials of the heart are harder to overcome. Caught between a pair of suitors, her choice seems hard enough, then the dashing Sergeant Troy appears over the horizon, with a swagger in his step and a dangerous secret in his past.

“I don’t know that a person could honestly say ‘there’s something here for everyone’ because there’s nothing here for a person who only likes musicals, or, only likes plays about the Queen of England.

But I do think that there are a lot of things here for a lot of people.”

Will Eno, selfie

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- Will Eno, on his collection of plays

Will Eno

Plays

In his own words

Will Eno recently made his Broadway debut with his critically acclaimed new play, The Realistic Joneses. Eno received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award. His plays The Open House and Title and Deed premiered at the Pershing Square Signature Center in 2014 and 2012 respectively. The Realistic Joneses also premiered in the spring of 2012, at the Yale Repertory Theater. Both 2012 plays were named in a short list of Best Plays in The New York Times. His critically acclaimed play Middletown (Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play, 2010) received its premiere in Winter 2010 at the Vineyard Theatre and was then produced at Steppenwolf Theatre. Here is Will himself describing his plays:

“The Realistic Joneses, a sad but funny but ultimately sad but ultimately funny comedy

about two couples named Jones and how they do and don’t deal with mortality and each other. The play was on Broadway in 2014 in a production directed by Sam Gold, starring Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, and Marisa Tomei. It received a Drama Desk Award and was named Best Play on Broadway by USA Today and Best American Play of 2014 by The Guardian and was on The New York Times’s Top Ten List for 2014.” Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 2f | 90 minutes | B’way Premiere 2014

“The Open House, a family play that’s also about the terror and joy and mystery of being.

Perhaps it’s in some ways unnecessary that I have written ‘also,’ in the previous sentence. The play won the 2014 Obie Award, the Lortel Award, and a Drama Desk Award and was on many critics’ top ten lists for 2014. The play should have, but does not absolutely require, a dog in it. In the World Premiere at the Signature Theatre, the dog was played by Marti, a dog. She later went on to be Annie’s dog Sandy, in the 2014 movie Annie. Backstage she just acted like a normal dog. Very approachable. Oh, and she was rescued from a shelter, which only adds to her triumphant story.”

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

“Middletown, a play about a town that is also the world. It’s also about loneliness and the very little

things in life. It has a guy fixing a sink and an astronaut floating in outer space, in it. These two people met, some time before the play begins, with the former buying a tandem bike off the latter, and then later returning it, because, we are to assume, he couldn’t find anyone to ride it with. Middletown won the Horton Foote Award and has been produced at Steppenwolf, the Vineyard Theatre, Trinity Rep, Seattle Rep, Third Rail Theater, and many other large and small theaters throughout the States.”

Dramatic Comedy | 6m, 6f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2010

“Title and Deed, a monologue for a character who’s not from Here. It’s about an hour long

and, in some ways, has no production demands other than an actor, a bag, a lunchbox, and a stick. The play was on The New York Times’s top ten of plays in 2012, and was also on John Lahr’s top ten list in The New Yorker. Lahr wrote, ‘Eno’s joking seems to me a great act of courage: a way of facing lostness and learning to live with it. His voice is unique; his play is stage poetry of a high order. You can’t see the ideas coming in Title and Deed. When they arrive – tiptoeing in with a quiet yet startling energy – you don’t quite know how they got there. In this tale’s brilliant telling, it is not the narrator who proves unreliable but life itself.’” Dramatic Comedy | 1m | 75 minutes | World Premiere 2012

“Gnit, an adaptation of Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. I think a serious adaptation of a classic means that you reproduce the ancient truths and feelings of a play, using the forms and consciousness of the present day. You have to study the original play for years, and in as many translations as you can find, and, after that, it’s a feel thing. The play premiered at the 2013 Humana Festival of New American Plays.

In reviewing a subsequent production one critic wrote, ‘Gnit approaches a topic as sweeping as the meaning of life through one man’s choices – and makes us think about those we are making every day.

If ever a play made me want to be a better person, this is it.’”

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2013

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Grounded

Afterlife

by GEORGE BRANT

b y M I C H A E L F R AY N

Drama | 1f | 75 minutes | World Premiere 2013

Drama | 6m, 2f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2008

“A scorching sharp-eyed, timely script…lets no one off easy…clap all you want at the end of the play – and you’ll want to clap a lot – but the game stays with you.” - Time Out New York

“Frayn’s tremendous new play is a piece of history...with sharp style and thrilling clarity.” - The New York Times

The story of an ace fighter pilot whose career in the sky is ended early due to an unexpected pregnancy. Reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas, she hunts terrorists by day and returns to her family each night.

As the pressure to track a high-profile target mounts, the boundaries begin to blur between the desert she lives in and the one she patrols half a world away.

Old Money

Max Reinhardt had a lifelong ambition: to dissolve the boundary between theatre and the world it portrays. Each year at the Salzburg Festival he directed the famous morality play, Everyman, about God sending Death to summon a representative of mankind for judgment. The victim he chooses is a man who, like Reinhardt, rejoices in his wealth and all the pleasures that money can buy. Then, in 1938, Hitler declares his own day of reckoning and sends Death into Austria, whereupon Reinhardt, a Jew, is left as naked and vulnerable as Everyman himself.

by WENDY WASSER STEIN

White Chocolate

Drama | 3m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2000

b y W I L L I A M H A M I LT O N

“Wasserstein believes in the power of laughter...she has a good eye for the foolish ways of the moneyed people then and, especially, now.” - New York Post

Comedy | 2m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2004

A drawing room comedy that spans the 19th and 20th centuries, Old Money introduces the exotic creatures that have inhabited an old Manhattan mansion. A wealthy robber baron and his family, their descendants and assorted characters in their midst: an Irish maid, a Hollywood producer, a social climbing decorator, confused teenagers and eccentric artists mingle in a contrast of old money and new.

Brandon and Deborah Beale, a married and affluent couple living on New York City’s Upper West Side, are preparing for the announcement of Brandon’s appointment as Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Going to bed one night extremely wealthy and white, they wake up the next morning black. A satirical look at race, class, and culture.

“Brings...loopy wit to its observation of liberal condescension and hypocrisy.” - Variety

by SAMUEL D. HUNTER

The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek

Drama | 2m, 1f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2015

b y AT H O L F U G A R D

“ A compassionate, gently hued drama about lonely lives.”

- The New York Times

Drama | 2m, 1f, 1b | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2015

Four years ago, Bryan abandoned his labor of love, a newspaper for truckers. Now he’s returned – with no word of where he’s been – and things have changed.

His former lover is filled with rage, his new coworker is filled with incessant adoration, and his paper is filled with personal ads. As he considers giving up for good, Bryan searches for what he couldn’t find on the road: a way to keep faith in humanity.

Farm laborer Nukain has spent his life transforming the rocks at Revolver Creek into a vibrant garden of painted flowers. The final unpainted rock, as well as his young companion Bokkie, force Nukain to confront his legacy as a painter, a person and a black man in 1980s South Africa. When the landowner’s wife arrives with demands about the painting, the profound rifts of a country hurtling toward the end of apartheid are laid bare.

The Few

“An intimate theatrical gem.” - The Hollywood Reporter

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Plays

Red Velvet

by LOLITA CHAKRABARTI

Drama | 5m, 3f | 120 minutes World Premiere 2012

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833.

Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello.

A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?

Based on the little-known, but true story of Ira Aldridge, an African-American actor who, in the 19th century, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe.

“Shock waves rarely travel across centuries but... you can experience firsthand what it must have felt like to be part of one seriously rattled London theater audience in 1833.”

– The New York Times “Frankly, thrilling. [Red Velvet] burns the place down.” – Time Out New York “It’s a cracker of a play: gripping, intelligent and passionate.”

– The Financial Times Adrian Lester in Red Velvet, Tricycle Theatre, London, 2012 (Tristram Kenton) .

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FINDING IRA ALDRIDGE

by LOLITA CHAKRABARTI

The

Red Velvet playwright tells the striking story of an actor whose persistence and talent continues to

European theatre today.

resonate in

W

hen I was at school in 1987 a substantial part of my A�

Level Theatre Studies syllabus was British Victorian theatre history.

As a class we looked at Garrick, Kemble, Kean, Tree, Bancroft, and Irving to name but a few. I was not taught about Ira Aldridge.

I left school to train as an actor in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) where great Victorian practitioners were ever present, commemorated through paintings, in the names of theatres and literally inscribed on the walls. In my three years at RADA, arguably one of the best drama schools in the world, I still never once heard the name of Ira Aldridge. A few years later, I came

40

across Aldridge by chance and that initial spark has sent me on a 15 -year journey to uncover this extraordinary man.

Ira Aldridge was a black American actor who came to Britain in the early19th century and whose career was lauded and celebrated across Europe. When he died he was given a state funeral in Lodz in Poland, but he has been largely forgotten since.

Finding any information about him proved very difficult. At that time the Internet was in its infancy and so I had to rely on books. The ease with which we search for books now is the antithesis to what you had to do then. In the end there was only

F eatures one book I could find: Herbert Marshall and Mildred Stock’s Ira Aldridge; The Negro Tragedian published in 1958. I found a single copy at the Theatre Museum Library in Covent Garden, an institution which has sadly since gone. I was not allowed to take the book out of their library, so for several weeks I went there and read it again and again, all the time wondering why I had not heard of him?

I found out that Aldridge was born in 1807 in New York. Slavery was still an acceptable trade at that time, but New York had implemented a gradual abolition within its state so Ira was born free. His father, Daniel, was a straw seller and preacher and wanted his son to follow his footsteps into the church but Ira chose the theatre. The theatre is still looked upon as a very uncertain profession today, so what Daniel Aldridge thought of his son’s decision at a time, when regular employment and respectability were hard won, I can only imagine.

Ira traveled to Britain in 1824 and trod the British boards for the first time a year later in London’s East End. The next nine years were spent testing his mettle in provincial theatres up and down the country.

He was an absolute anomaly.

People of African descent were not considered part of decent society, but the extensive reviews of his work at the time show that, although he was a curiosity, he was a very able actor and people admired him.

He stood for talent outweighing restrictions of class and race.

Someone who refused to accept the cards he was dealt and who reflected the infinite possibilities of an open and fair society.

Aldridge’s fame and popularity grew steadily and in 1833 he was invited to play at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden. After a disappointing reception he continued to tour

While writing Red Velvet

I consciously created a world where the historical dilemmas mirrored the dilemmas of today.

British provinces for the next 20 years with diminishing financial returns. It was only when he embarked on his first foreign tour in 1852 that Ira’s fortunes changed.

He worked abroad for the rest of his life and during this time he was knighted by The Duke of Saxe‐Meiningen, presented with a First Class Gold Medal from His Majesty Frederick William IV, given the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold by the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and the Imperial Jubilee de Tolstoy Medal from St. Petersburg. He died in 1867.

When I reached the ‘end’ of my research trail, (if research ever does truly finish), I could not believe that after all he had achieved, against all possible odds, Ira Aldridge had been forgotten. As an actor myself, I know that the theatre is a testing profession – insecure, unreliable, changeable, and work is in short supply – so for Aldridge to have persevered in the face of these mundane issues, let alone the prejudice he would have suffered, I find astounding.

While writing Red Velvet I consciously created a world where the historical dilemmas mirrored the dilemmas of today. I did this because I believe

41

history repeats itself and as we edge forward, we are encumbered by old ideals. The same discussions are had again and again over time and they circulate around the same fundamental things – money, power and entitlement. Theatre is about telling stories that engage, challenge, and move. Although fashions change and technology has transformed the theatre, its heart will always be the same. I took my personal experience of working in the theatre and wove everything I love and loathe about the profession into Aldridge’s life: the loneliness and exhilaration of touring; the intimate friendships that crumble in crisis; the politics of hierarchy and the pure love of the craft.

It has taken me more than a third of my life to realise Red Velvet.

That’s a sobering thought, but in retrospect, it has been unbelievably worth it. I hope now that if you study Victorian theatre history in school or college, amongst the Kembles, the Siddons, and the Keans will be Ira Aldridge. An astonishing example of tenacity and talent, a role model for us all, a bright light for all those thinking that the world will not welcome what they have to offer. Ira has taught me that it is so important to recognise achievement and that stories like his must be repeated and passed on. Ira Aldridge challenged society on so many levels, he altered the worldview of that time and ultimately, I believe, his influence resonates in European theatre today.

This article originally appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, March 2015.

Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge in Red Velvet, Tricycle Theatre, London 2012 (Hugo Glendinning).

The Tall Girls

Clown Bar

by MEG MIROSHNIK

by A DAM SZYMKOWIC Z

Drama | 1m, 5f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2014

Dark Comedy | 7m, 3f | 60 minutes | World Premiere 2013

“A realistic edge, with a bittersweet (emphasis on the bitter) second act that upsets all the outward tropes of the ‘stand up and cheer’ genre.” - Arts Atlanta

“Adam Szymkowicz’s script is unabashedly silly but also shrewd.” - The New York Times

Inspired by the flourishing and then decline of high school girls’ basketball teams in the 1930s rural Midwest. The tiny hamlet of Poor Prairie doesn’t see a lot of folks coming to town, least of all men: they’ve all left to find desperately needed work. So when one gets off the train, everybody talks, especially the high school girls looking for a meal ticket. As for that meal ticket? He may just have it after all, if he can get his girls good enough at basketball to sell a few tickets.

And keep them from marrying off. And out of fights.

If Memory Serves b y J O N AT H A N T O L I N S Comedy |4m, 4f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 1998

“A funny, provocative comedy. Big laughs.”

- The Los Angeles Times

During her classic television series, Diane Barrow was America’s sweetheart and everybody’s favorite spunky mom. That was 20 years ago. Now her career is in a slump and her son suddenly remembers some nasty things from his childhood. Or does he?

The Fall of Heaven b y W A LT E R M O S L E Y Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 2f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2010

“Mosley possesses a hiply modern ear, a sharply focused, streetwise eye, tremendous wit, and a mischievous mix of unmitigated comic glee and deep ruefulness about the human condition.”

- Chicago Sun-Times

Tempest Landry, a street-wise young man living in Harlem, unexpectedly finds himself at the Pearly Gates. When Saint Peter orders him to hell, the quick-witted Tempest refuses to go. A technical loophole forces heaven to send Tempest back to Earth with an angel in tow to keep him out of trouble. The resulting battle of wills takes an intriguing look at good versus evil and what it means to be human.

Happy’s junkie brother Timmy is found dead. Now Happy must return to his former life as a clown to ask a few questions. But will he be able to go home again without getting sucked into the seedy clown underbelly of vice and violence? Clown Bar is a speakeasy style cabaret replete with clown mobsters, strippers, crooners, addicts, and one dashing squarejawed detective. Put on your red nose, throw back your shot of extra-funny, and get swept into this immersive whodunit.

The God Game

by SUZANNE BRADBEER Drama | 2m, 1f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

“The audience can never be sure what’s going to happen next, even in the very last seconds...wonderfully on-target contemporary use of language.” - The New York Times

Tom is a Virginia Senator and rising star in the Republican Party. When a long-time family friend resurfaces and offers the opportunity of a lifetime, Tom faces a crisis of conviction while his marriage hangs precariously in the balance. The God Game is a play about faith and politics, marriage and friendship, choices and consequences.

Oohrah!

by BEKAH BRUNSTETTER Dramatic Comedy | 4m, 3f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2009

“The young scribe’s talent and potential are obvious in this Southern-basted dramatic comedy...” - Variety

Ron is back from his third and final tour in Iraq, and his wife Sara is excited to restart their life together.

When a young marine visits the family, life is turned upside down. A disarmingly funny and candid drama that raises challenging questions about what it means when the military is woven into the fabric of a family, and service is far more than just a job.

42

Plays THE PLAYS OF

Husbandry

David Rabe

b y P AT R I C K T O V AT T Drama | 2m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1984

“The play simmers so gently for so long, as each potential confrontation is deflected with Chekhovian shrugs and silences, that when it boils into hostility it sears the audience.” - Time

Hurlyburly

An insightful drama about what has happened to small farms in America. The play revolves around a family on the verge of losing their farm. The farmer’s son and his wife have good jobs in the city, but the old man can’t go it alone anymore. He needs his son on the farm. Meanwhile, his son is torn between his parents and his wife who does not want to leave her job and uproot her family to become a farm wife.

“At his impressive best, Mr. Rabe makes grim, ribald and surprisingly compassionate comedy out of the lies and rationalizations that allow his alienated men to keep functioning if not feeling in the fogs of Lotusland.” - The New York Times

Baby Screams Miracle

by CLARE BARRON Drama | 1m, 1f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2013

“Barron’s play weaves together ideas of love, patience, and forgiveness set amidst a world of chaos and mayhem.” - theasy.com

A family, already deeply enmeshed in its own weirdness, is plunged into a chaotic world that grows stranger by the minute. A freak storm knocks down all the trees in town and brings a prodigal daughter rushing home. But has she come for reconciliation?

Or as an angel of vengeance?

Barrymore

by WILLIAM LUCE Drama | 2m | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1997

“A dazzler! A portrait of riveting complexity and paradox that finds the balletic elegance in a drunken stagger, the poetry in a blue joke and the churning guts in rarefied verse.” - The New York Times

Each act begins with a stunning entrance onto a stage that the 60-year-old legendary actor has rented to prepare for a comeback performance of Richard III. Barrymore jokes with the audience, spars with an offstage prompter, reminisces about better times, and performs delicious imitations of his siblings Lionel and Ethel.

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Drama | 4m, 3f | Full Length Play| B'way Premiere 1984

The intersecting lives of several low-to-mid-level Hollywood players: casting directors, actors, screenwriters, and their various girlfriends and hangers-on. Fueled by large quantities of drugs, they engage in misogynistic mind games and attempt to find meaning in their isolated, empty lives. A black satire of Tinseltown corruption, as characters dive head first into the decadent, perverted, cocaine culture that is Hollywood, pursuing a sex crazed, drug-addled vision of the American Dream.

In the Boom Boom Room Drama | 6m, 6f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 1973

“Compassion for anguished people leavened by a black wit and a powerful sense of the surreal nature of modern life.” - Newsweek

Chrissy is a go-go dancer in the squalid “Boom Boom Room.” Resigned to a life populated by denizens offering little more than drugs, sex, and violence, she searches for love and beauty against this backdrop of nihilistic hedonism. Her desperate need to survive at any cost offers a glimmer of hope amid the glare of broken neon.

Additional Titles The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel The Black Monk The Dog Problem An Early History of Fire Goose and Tomtom The Orphan Sticks and Bones Streamers Those the River Keeps

Doris to Darlene

GET INS PIRED I encourage aspiring playwrights to create work that exists under the motto which I’ve tried to write my own plays:

by JORDAN HARRISON Dramatic Comedy | 4m, 2f | 105 minutes| World Premiere 2007

“[A] teasing, rapturous chamber opera of a play...a rarefied theatrical experiment that has the glow of pure entertainment and the warmth of a folktale.” - Newsday

In the candy-colored 1960s, biracial schoolgirl Doris is molded into pop star Darlene by a whiz-kid record producer who culls a top-ten hit out of Richard Wagner’s “Liebestod.” Rewind to the candy-colored 1860s, where Wagner is writing the melody that will become Darlene’s hit song. Fast-forward to the notso-candy-colored present, where a teenager obsesses over Darlene’s music and his music teacher. Three dissonant decades merge into an unlikely harmony in this time-jumping pop fairy tale about the dreams and disasters behind one transcendent song.

Spofford

by HERMAN SHUMLIN a d a p t e d f r o m t h e n ov e l by P E T E R D E V R I E S Comedy | 6m, 9f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 1967

“Delightful humor and a great deal of sly wisdom.”

- New York Post

A farmer who has watched with awe the retreat of the wealthy from the city to his town, crosses the line between the newcomers and the old timers, causing a series of comic encounters.

My Wonderful Day b y A L A N AY C K B O U R N Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 4f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2009

“A compellingly still center lurks within [this] farcical storm...a charming, rueful new comedy.” - The New York Times

Winnie is nearly nine. Her mum, Laverne, is secondgeneration Afro-Caribbean and heavily pregnant but continues with her cleaning job since her husband left.

Not well enough to go to school, Winnie accompanies her mum and settles down to her homework: an essay entitled “My Wonderful Day.” Over the next few hours, Winnie will amass plenty of material for her essay as a variety of adults parade before her.

Everyone is Welcome.

No One is Safe.

- Robert O’Hara

Bootycandy

by ROBERT O’HARA Comedy/Satire | 3m, 2f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2011

WINNER - 2014/2015 Lambda Literary Award, Best LGBT Drama

Robert O’Hara’s semi-autobiographical subversive comedy tells the story of Sutter, who is on an outrageous odyssey through his childhood home, his church, dive bars, motel rooms, and even nursing homes. O’Hara weaves together scenes, sermons, sketches, and daring meta-theatrics to create a kaleidoscopic portrayal of growing up gay and black.

Robert O’Hara’s uproarious satire crashes headlong into the murky terrain of pain and pleasure and…

BOOTYCANDY.

Spoils of War

by MICHAEL WELLER Drama | 3m, 3f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 1988

“This is without question Mr. Weller’s most intelligent play.”

- The New York Times

The events of the 1950s are explored through the eyes of Martin’s parents, radicals who have chosen very different ways to cope with the changed and changing times. Elise is still a rebel without a cause who wants to live for something more than survival.

Andrew has dropped back into the system and accepted the conventionality of day-to-day existence.

Caught between these irreconcilables, Martin is unable to bring his parents back together but must find and follow his own life path.

44

Plays THE PLAYS OF

Charles Busch “Charles Busch, the playwright and sometime drag performer, has the gift of comic gab like few other entertainers. Innately funny, endearing and acutely intelligent, he also has claws. For an audience, the possibility of being scratched, although remote, lends his humor a bracing edge.”

– Stephen Holden, The New York Times, 2014

The Tribute Artist

by CHARLES BUSCH

Comedy | 2m, 4f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 2014

“Critic's Pick. Sheer joy!” - The New York Times

This new play by the reigning king (or queen) of Off-Broadway comedy, Charles Busch, is about an out-of-work female impersonator who, when his elderly landlady dies in her sleep, takes on her identity in order to hang on to her valuable Greenwich Village townhouse. This “perfect” scheme goes awry and leads to a wild path of twists and reversals plotted by an eccentric rogues gallery of outrageous schemers.

Expect Busch’s signature blend of quick-witted banter and gender-bending hijinks in this new play from the master of Off-Broadway farce.

Additional Titles Die, Mommie, Die! Judith of Bethulia Olive and the Bitter Herbs Our Leading Lady Psycho Beach Party Queen Amarantha Red Scare on Sunset Shanghai Moon Sleeping Beauty or Coma

“One does not become a Charles Busch fan, one is enslaved.”

- Paul Rudnick, Writer 45

Swingtime Canteen The Divine Sister The Green Heart The Lady in Question The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife The Third Story Times Square Angel Vampire Lesbians of Sodom You Should Be So Lucky

The Hatmaker’s Wife

by LAUREN YEE Comedy | 3m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2013

“Yee’s characters and story lines jump back and forth not only between the realistic and the fantastical but also between gutlaughter funny and hit-you-in-the-gut sad, and they do so with astounding truthfulness.” - TheaterMania

A young woman moves in with her boyfriend expecting domestic bliss, but instead has trouble getting comfortable. Her strange new home seems determined to help out – and soon the walls are talking. They reveal the magical tale of an old hatmaker and his longsuffering wife, who runs away with his favorite hat. This sweet and surreal story bends time and space to redefine the idea of family, home, and true love itself.

Stunning

The Destiny of Me

by LARRY KRAMER Drama | 5m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1992

FINALIST -1993 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Ned Weeks, having lost his lover to AIDS, has tested HIV positive and checked into a hospital to begin treatment. He battles with the medical establishment even as he battles his past in this memory play in the tradition of The Glass Menagerie. Moving fluidly from present to past and back again, The Destiny of Me reveals the young Alexander who grows up to be Ned, his coming to terms with his homosexuality and his family’s reluctance to do so.

Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme

by FRANK MCGUINNESS

b y D AV I D A D J M I

Drama | 8m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1985

Drama | 2m, 4f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2010

“Depicts war so powerfully that audiences are seen leaving in almost complete silence... No question about it, this is one of the most important events of the New York theatrical season. The audience feels like it knows these men like sons or brothers.” -UPI

“A deft touch for both comedy and drama... Richly defined characters tackle sensitive topics insightfully and often to incendiary effect. David Adjmi is quickly building a reputation for unvarnished presentations of offbeat and disturbing themes.”

- Variety

16-year-old Lily knows nothing beyond the SyrianJewish community in Brooklyn where she lives a cloistered life with her much older husband. Soon an unlikely relationship with her enigmatic AfricanAmerican maid opens Lily’s world to new possibilities – but at a huge price.

Oblivion b y C A R LY M E N S C H Drama | 2m, 2f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2011

“[Oblivion] grabs the audience’s attention and leaves them satisfied and entertained.” - The Newtown Bee

Uber-hip Brooklynites Pam and Dixon take great pride in their secular humanist approach to parenting.

But when their 17-year-old daughter, Julie, decides to become a Christian, their laid-back, open-minded facade comes crashing down.

This lyrical work follows a group of Irish Protestant volunteers from joining up until their slaughter on the fields of France during World War I. It opens in 1969 with the only survivor addressing a soliloquy to his long dead comrades. The action jumps back to 1915 and the young men are seen as they meet, bond, and face their bloody fate. The play explores the horror of war and the mystifying reasons why these misguided souls choose to march off to almost certain death.

Masked b y I L A N H AT S O R translated by MICHAEL TAUB Drama | 3m | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2007

“Provocative drama. An articulate calculus of loyalty and betrayal.” - The New Yorker

An explosive Israeli play about three Palestinian brothers, set during the Intifada with the Israeli-Arab struggle as its backdrop. The tragedy of one family torn between duty, kinship, principles and survival.

46

Plays

brownsville song

by KIMBER LEE

(b-side for tray)

Drama | 2m, 2f, 1g | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

“[brownsville song] has the feel of a rap song made stage-ready.”

– The Huffington Post “Ms. Lee’s language is vivid and rhythmic... it argues persuasively against treating the next neighborhood death as just one more sad statistic.” – The New York Times “Kimber Lee’s heartfelt drama about the brief life and senseless death of a kid from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood has a lot to say about urban violence.” – Variety

Set in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, brownsville song (b-side for tray) is a powerful tale of resilience in the face of tragedy. Moving fluidly between past and present, this bold new play tells the story of Tray, a spirited African-American 18-yearold, and his family, who must hold on to hope when Tray’s life is cut short. Kimber Lee’s lyrical social drama is a poignant story for our time, and demands the attention of audiences far and wide.

Curtis Cook, Jr. in brownsville song (b-side for tray) at Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, 2015 (T. Charles Erickson).

47

The Samuel French Off Off Broadway

Short Play Festival

Established in 1975, the Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival is New York’s oldest, continuous short play festival. Each year, 30 plays are selected from more than 1,500 submissions to be performed in a week-long festival and reviewed by a panel of theatre industry professionals. Six winning plays are published in Samuel French’s Off Off Broadway Festival Plays series and licensed to theaters around the world.

The 39th Series, 2014 John, who’s here from Cambridge

Dramatic Comedy | 1m, 1f | 15 minutes

by MART YNA MAJOK

Overworked, under-qualified, and broke, Jess takes on another job to make ends meet – as a personal caretaker for a graduate student named John. John has cerebral palsy. John is beautiful.

The Logic

Drama | 2m | 15 minutes

by WILL ARBERY

Evan and Andrew reconnect on Facebook. While Evan is starting a career in publishing in New York, Andrew is incarcerated in a Texas prison. As their childhood friendship starts to resurface, Andrew tries to push through the banality of digital communication to fulfill a plan they had when they were kids.

Taisetsu Na Hito

Dark Comedy/Experimental | 1m, 2f | 15 minutes

by LEAH NA NAKO WINKLER

Bethany and Charles, a wholesome American couple, become owners of Android Minami, a Japanese robo-maid. As Minami becomes integrated into their mundane lives, repressed emotions arise and the line between servitude and fetishism disappears.

A Wake for David’s Fucked-Up Face

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 1f | 20 minutes

by SKYLAR FOX

David did something stupid on the way home from prom. Now, Cal’s covered in blood, eating Funyuns in his room, and Cal’s mom doesn’t know what to do with him. Why doesn’t he seem sad? Are live-action role-playing fantasy games really the answer? And where is David’s head?

et•y•mol•o•gy

Dramatic Comedy | 1m, 1f | 10 minutes

by JENNIFER JASPER

Seven words map the course of Susan Anne and Calvin’s journey through life.

Mandate

Dramatic Comedy | 2m | 15 minutes

b y K E L LY Y O U N G E R

Forced into a guy’s night out by their wives, a stay-at-home dad and a stay-in-his-cubicle accountant go on a disastrous “first date” only to learn that friendship really is magic.

The 40th Series, 2015 (coming soon) Blind b y G L O R I A C A L D E R O N K E L L E T T Evelyn Shaffer and the Chance of a Lifetime b y G R E G The Gulf b y A U D R E Y C E F A L Y Narrators b y S I M O N H E N R I Q U E S Seabird is in a Happy Place b y J A M E S G O R D O N K I N G Throws of Love b y A M Y S T A A T S 48

E DW A R D S & A N DY R O N I N S O N

Plays

Geniuses

Mr. Burns,

a post-electric play

b y J O N AT H A N R E Y N O L D S Comedy | 5m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1982

“Beneath the japery, there is a warning: movies can be injurious to your health. Geniuses skewers deal makers, agents and all who overdose on self-importance.” - The New York Times

A satirical take on Apocalypse Now-type filmmaking set in a jungle shack 200 miles north of Manila. A group of grandiose filmmakers are shooting a war epic, Parabola of Death. The characters include the latest in a series of writers on the project, a sadistic set designer, a make-up artist specializing in wounds who is obsessed with Hemingway, a boy-wonder “auteur” director who creates chaos, and the producer’s bimbo girlfriend who has been flown in to do a 30 second nude scene.

by ANNE WASHBURN Dark Comedy | 3m, 5f | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2012

“Makes the end of civilization seem like the perfect time to create glowing objects of wonder and beauty.” - Time Out New York

After the collapse of civilization, a group of survivors share a campfire and begin to piece together the plot of The Simpsons episode “Cape Feare,” entirely from memory. Seven years later, this and other snippets of pop culture (sitcom plots, commercials, jingles, and pop songs) have become the live entertainment of a post-apocalyptic society, sincerely trying to hold on to its past. 75 years later, these are the myths and legends from which new forms of performance are created.

What They Have

BecauseHeCan

b y K AT E R O B I N

by A R THUR KOPI T

Comedy | 2m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2003

Drama | 4m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2003

WINNER - 2003 Princess Grace Award for Playwriting

Connie and Jonas are a successful industry couple.

Their friends Suzanne, a struggling painter, and Matt, a struggling musician, can’t afford to fix the roof. But stay tuned because in this funny, poignant and always truthful new play, lives can change in a heartbeat, and things aren’t necessarily what they seem.

Dusty and the Big Bad World

“Sizzling. A horrifying cautionary tale [that] plays with questions of reality.” - The New York Times

He calls himself ISeeU, but you can’t see him. And if it’s you he wants, nothing can stop him. In a plot worthy of Kafka or Orwell, this alarming, sinister, and erotic tale propels an unsuspecting married couple into their worst nightmare: a world with no secrets in which private lives are no longer private.

For this couple, the future has arrived and they are among its first casualties.

AUGUST WILSON’s

Gem of the Ocean

by CUSI CRAM

Drama | 5m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2004

Comedy | 1m, 3f, 1g | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2009

“A genial and witty political comedy closely based on [a real scandal] from 2005.” - The Denver Post

“Passages of transporting beauty. Mr. Wilson is at the top of his form.” - The New York Times

Dusty and his animated friends hold a competition to find a model family based on letters written by children. The producers pick Lizzie Goldberg-Jones and her family to be featured. Her parents are two men. When word of that selection and the resulting episode reaches Marianne, Secretary of Education, she decides that the program should not be aired on public television because of its possible influence on children.

Set in 1904, it begins on the eve of Aunt Esther’s 287th birthday. When Citizen Barlow comes to her Pittsburgh Hill District home seeking asylum, she sets him off on a spiritual journey to find a city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Gem of the Ocean is the ninth work in Wilson’s ten-play cycle that has recorded the American Black experience and helped to define generations.

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Quincy Tyler Bernstine in Grand Concourse, Playwrights Horizons, 2014 (Joan Marcus).

Grand Concourse

by HEIDI SCHRECK

Drama | 2m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

“[Heidi Schreck] writes fluid, natural dialogue and creates detailed characters that offer generous opportunities for actors...the words have the ring of plain truth.”

– The New York Times

G E T I NSPI R E D

It can be helpful to have a muse. Find a sibling or unwitting friend and make them be in all of your plays.

At age ten, I sewed a pirate costume for my little brother and convinced him to stand in the bathtub and pretend he was Sinbad the Sailor in a well-received performance for my parents. My process hasn’t changed much. I often write for actors I adore, for people who inspire me. Writing can be lonely. It helps to have conspirators.

- Heidi Schreck

Having dedicated her life to religious service, Shelley runs a Bronx soup kitchen with unsentimental efficiency, but lately her heart’s not quite in it. Her brisk nature masks an unsettling fear that her efforts are meaningless. When Emma, an idealistic but confused college dropout, arrives to volunteer, her reckless mix of generosity and selfinvolvement pushes Shelley to the breaking point. With keen humor and startling compassion, Heidi Schreck’s play navigates the mystery of faith, the limits of forgiveness, and the pursuit of something resembling joy.

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Plays

The Whipping Man

Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen

b y M AT T H E W L O P E Z Drama | 3m | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2006

WINNER - 2011 Outer Critics Circle Award, John Gassner Award

It is Passover, 1865. The Civil War has just ended and the annual celebration of freedom from bondage is being observed in Jewish homes across the country.

Confederate officer Caleb DeLeon has returned from the war to find his family missing and only two former slaves remaining. As the three men wait for the family’s return, they wrestle with their shared past as master and slave, digging up long-buried family secrets along the way as well as new ones. Slavery and war, they discover, warp even good men’s souls.

b y K AT H R Y N W A L AT Comedy | 4m, 1f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2007

“The biggest and best surprise of the season so far...puts the nerds next to the popular kids as they join forces to prove their worth to the world.” - NYTheatre.com

When uber-popular Vickie Martin joins the allmale math team, chaos theory becomes the rule at Longwood High School. Can this goddess of Pi possibly make the mathletes victorious? Totally.

Defiled

The Sugar Witch

by LEE KALCHEIM Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2000

b y N AT H A N S A N D E R S Drama | 3m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2008

“Filled with weird, surreal, stageworthy dramatic moments and situations...a satisfying balance between gothic horror and humor!”

- Palo Alto Daily News

The Bean family in Sugar Bean, Florida live under an ancient family curse. The surviving members of the town’s founding family have reached the end of their rope. Just when things can’t possibly get any worse, tragedy strikes as a mysterious and brutal murder takes place in the Bean family home. The crime places Moses and Sisser in grave danger as Annabelle, the last in a long-line of so-called “Sugar Witches,” attempts to end the curse placed on their heads.

“Kalcheim has written fine, funny parts.... His ending is a coup de theatre that’s both logically satisfying and genuinely startling.” - Time

A nerdy, technophobic librarian, clutching a detonator in his sweaty hands, plans to obliterate the library if his beloved card catalog is carted away. He’s pitted against a harried police negotiator in this fast-paced debate on society’s obsession with computers.

Thunder Above, Deeps Below b y A . R E Y P A M AT M AT

Sixteen Wounded

Drama | 4m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2009

“Large, loud, and complex- at times deeply funny, at times deeply disturbing.” - NYTheatre.com

by ELIAM KRAIEM Comedy | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2004

“Kraiem’s tender humanism leaves room for hope, even in a world more complicated than some would like to acknowledge.”

- USA Today

A play told with both humor and heart-wrenching honesty, revolving around the fateful colliding of two seemingly disparate lives: a lonely, emotionally remote Jewish baker, and a passionate young Palestinian far from home. A friendship evolves as the men struggle with their personal identities and their loyalties. But can this relationship stave off the inevitable?

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Three homeless friends – a Filipina American with a hidden past, a Filipina transsexual, and a Puerto Rican hustler – struggle on the Chicago streets to scrounge up enough cash to bus it to San Francisco before the winter hits. When a bearded man on a quest, a mystery man in sunglasses, a wealthy john, and a doughnut shop’s spell-casting assistant manager put their hopes and friendships to the test, the trio find they must spare some change of a far queerer kind.

Licensing restrictions may apply to certain titles.

The Vertical Hour b y D AV I D H A R E Drama | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 2006

“The play wittily explores a generational clash and shows that political attitudes are partly determined by personal character.”

- The Guardian

A thought-provoking exploration of how the political can sometimes intersect, collide with, and ultimately dismantle the personal. The play addresses the relationship of characters with opposing views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and reveals the psychological tension between public lives and private lives.

Huck & Holden

by RAJIV JOSEPH Comedy | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | B’way Premiere 2005

“A charming, goofy and frequently hilarious comedy of sex and romance.” - Broadway World

Navin, an Indian college student who’s fresh off the boat, tries to focus on his studies while the temptations of America and college life start beating down his door. When Navin falls for Michelle, a young AfricanAmerican woman, he finds that his perceptions of the world begin to expand and crumble. A romantic comedy that wrestles with cultural stereotypes, racism, The Kama Sutra, The Catcher in the Rye, and how losing our innocence doesn’t always make us wiser.

Sunset Baby

Eyes of the American

by SAMM-ART WILLIAMS Drama | 2m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1985

“Gives some political and moral thought food, and also nourishing roles for three actors... It is nice to have a play around willing to raise issues especially such issues as power, dictatorship and colonialism.” - New York Post

A CIA agent posing as a tourist in the Caribbean meets the taxi driver who is leading a revolution because he wants to be a king.

Romance Language

by PETER PARNELL Comedy | 15m, 4f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 1984

“Demonstrates Parnell’s antic humors and his perverse wit. Also his imagination.” - New York Post

Huck Finn climbs through Walt Whitman’s bedroom window. Since Whitman’s male lover has just died, he decides to go on a picaresque journey with Huck down the river of American culture. They encounter Custer, Thoreau, Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Cushman and Emily Dickinson. The craziness reaches a climax at the Battle of Little Big Horn where everyone is killed and goes to literary heaven.

Leveling Up

by DEBORAH ZOE LAUFER

by DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU

Drama | 3m,1f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2013

Drama | 2m,1f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2013

“[A] smart and bracing new play about two generations of urban outlaws struggling to stay afloat in the lower depths.”

- The New York Times

“[Laufer] is such a smart, engaging storyteller, and possesses such a flair for devising characters with highly individual voices, that she can draw you right in, whatever your age.”

- The Chicago Sun Times

Kenyatta Shakur is alone. His wife has died, and now, this former Black Revolutionary and political prisoner is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter Nina. If Kenyatta truly wants to reconcile his past, he must first conquer his most challenging revolution of all: fatherhood. Sunset Baby is an energized, vibrant, and witty look at the point where the personal and political collide. One of the most exciting and distinctive undiscovered voices in America.

Three 20-something roommates are glued to their video games. They are masters of the virtual worlds behind the computer screens in their Las Vegas basement. When one of them uses his gaming skills to land a job with the NSA launching actual drones and missiles, online battles begin to have real consequences. A fresh, contemporary look at how we navigate the blurry line between worlds both virtual and real and what it means to grow up.

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Plays

The Flick

by ANNIE BAKER

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 1f | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2013

WINNER - 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama In a run-down movie theater in central Massachusetts, three underpaid employees mop the floors and attend to one of the last 35 millimeter film projectors in the state.

Their tiny battles and not-so-tiny heartbreaks play out in the empty aisles, becoming more gripping than the lackluster, second-run movies on screen. With keen insight and a finely-tuned comic eye, The Flick is a hilarious and heartrending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world.

WINNER - 2013 OBIE Award, Playwriting WINNER - 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize NOMINEE - 2013 Drama Desk, Outstanding Play NOMINEE - 2013 Lortel Award, Outstanding Play

“Annie Baker, one of the freshest and most talented dramatists to emerge Off Broadway in the past decade, writes with tenderness and keen insight. Her writing is a great blessing to performers: The Flick draws out nakedly truthful and unadorned acting. This lovingly observed play will sink deep into your consciousness.” – The New York Times Louisa Krause and Aaron Clifton Moten in The Flick, at Playwrights Horizons, 2013 (Joan Marcus).

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ASIAN PLAYWRIGHTS and ASIAN CHARACTERS

by DAMON CHUA

Must A Asian playwrights write about Asian characters?

s an Asian playwright, I have always been confronted by the following question: Must Asian playwrights write about Asian characters? When I first started my career, that question wasn’t hard for me. Everyone should write about everything, I thought. Shakespeare created Italian, Danish, Moorish, and many other characters of diverse nationalities and origins. If he can do that, well, why can’t I? Also, I saw my fellow playwrights, many of whom were white, tackling plays set in Africa, Middle East, Asia, and other places, with

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characters of various ethnicities.

So the bottom line seemed to be: just write what you care about.

As time passed, my view changed.

I became sensitive to the relative lack of opportunity for artists of color. White actors are of course considered for white roles, but they are often cast in non-white roles too. A recent example involved the use of white actors in La Jolla Playhouse’s The Nightingale, which was set in Ancient China. I felt the pain of minority actors who were passed over.

F eatures GET I N S P I RE D Create DISTINCTIVE character names. Why? So that it’s easy for the reader to know instantly who’s talking, instead of having to backtrack to confirm. Don’t use “John” if “Motor Mouth John” will do; don’t use “Mary” if you can use “Little Marisela.”

- Damon Chua

I realized I have a responsibility to write for these actors. If I want the people on stage to truly reflect the colors of the diverse communities we live in, then it starts with me.

Diversity was no longer an abstract concept; it became an actionable thing. And I realized it wasn’t just about creating Asian characters, it was about creating characters that embrace the multi-cultural world we live in. My plays may or may not have an Asian element, but I always endeavor to engage with issues of under-served communities and interests.

But a new question arises. If an Asian playwright were to tackle non-Asian characters, how can he or she ensure these characters are truly authentic? I raise this only because I have been confronted by this question time and again. I am acutely aware that many white playwrights are not taken to task for writing characters that are distant from their cultural roots; and yet I am quickly challenged whenever I create black, Latino and other characters. My view is: being Asian doesn’t automatically mean I am an expert in creating, say, Japanese characters (I am of Chinese descent); in the same way, I believe one’s ethnicity doesn’t give you a monopoly over creating characters of that ethnicity. Otherwise, no one would have the standing to create a truly multi-cultural play, if authenticity

is the end-game. I would say the argument over authenticity misses a key point: the intent of the playwright, and the work put in in pursuit of that intent. Sadly, this is often glossed over in the name of political correctness. i am acutely aware that many white playwrights are not taken to task for writing characters that are distant from their cultural roots.

Recently, one of my plays was selected for a reading in New York. It is a short play with four characters: three Asian and one African American. I had given the producer permission to use the play when I got the following message in an email: “I will not be able to cast three Asians and a black actor for this reading, unfortunately. I am using a group of six actors to do readings of all the plays, and none are Asian or black. Since it is a reading and not a full production, we feel that it’s OK if the casting is not literal.”

It is clearly not okay, and we quickly parted ways. My message to the producer was clear: This is not just about casting; this goes to the heart of what I do. It felt good to take a stance, and it felt even better to see the message land.

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There is a further responsibility on the part of the playwright, which is to ensure that directors and actors, who may or may not share the same background as the characters on the page, truly understand who these characters are. I have been in situations in which a director or actor completely missed the cultural nuances of one of my characters. This is nobody’s fault – no one can be expected to know everything. So I take it upon myself to clarify the cultural context. Ultimately, this is a part of the conversation every playwright should have with his or her director and/or actors anyway, and I have learned not to shy away from it. It can only result in a better production.

Sometimes, I think a reason my plays are not staged more regularly is because casting is too difficult or “impossible.” Then there are times when I feel truly lucky to be doing what I am doing. I am not just telling stories; I am part of the change. After all, if I am not seeing diversity on stage, why am I doing this?

This article appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, June 2015 as part of the “Asian or American?” series.

Katie Lee Hill in Film Chinois, Pan Asian Repertory, 2015 (John Quincy Lee).

Samuel French publishes and licenses the largest collection of Asian American playwrights and plays. These plays touch on themes of race, culture, and identity and are a significant part of contemporary theatre. The work of these writers cover a wide range of topics and thus, are perfect for a wide range of audiences.

All This Intimacy

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2006

by RAJIV JOSEPH

Ty Greene is a normal guy with three very big problems. In an unprecedented run of promiscuity, Ty has managed to impregnate three women in the span of one week: His ex-girlfriend, his 40-something married next-door neighbor, and his 18-year-old student. In this edgy comedy, Ty’s problems illuminate every triumph and failure of his life, and as the women in his world converge and figure out what’s happened, Ty realizes his life is adrift, and that he only has a limited time to piece it back together.

American Hwangap

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2009

by LLOYD SUH

Steeped in the difficulty of reunification and reconciliation is the story of Min Suk Chun. 15 years earlier, he left his family in a West Texas suburb to return to his native Korea. On the occasion of his 60th birthday (hwangap), a milestone signifying the completion of the Eastern Zodiac and a type of rebirth, he returns to his ex-wife and now adult children as they struggle to reconcile their broken past with the mercurial, verbose, and often exasperating patriarch now back at the head of the table.

Bike America

Drama | 4m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2013

by MICHAEL LEW

The play peddles the audience along a cross-country bike trip from Boston to California. Penny is looking to bring more meaning into her life, to find a lifestyle that suits her and a town that feels like a home...so she drops her boyfriend in Beantown and takes off for Santa Barbara! Along the way she befriends a colorful crew of bikers: Ryan, the biking instructor; Tim Billy, the innocent wanderer; Annabel and Rorie, the badass activists seeking to get gay-married in every state they hit on the trip; and the mysterious Man with the Van who carries their stuff.

WINNER - 2012-2013 Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award.

Ching Chong Chinaman

by LAUREN YEE

Comedy | 3m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2009

The Wongs are American as apple pie. Desdemona dreams of Princeton but could use some help with her calculus. Her brother Upton wants to be a World of Warcraft champion but needs more free time to train. Upton solves both their problems by bringing an indentured servant home one day, but they soon discover that “Ching Chong” has American dreams of his own. An irreverent comedy that skewers every cliché of Asian American identity.

WINNER - 2007 Yale Playwrights Festival.

Edith Can Shoot Things And Hit Them

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 1f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2011

b y A . R E Y P A M AT M AT

Three kids: Kenny, his sister Edith, and their friend Benji are all but abandoned on a farm in remotest Middle America.

With little adult supervision, they feed and care for each other, making up the rules as they go. But when Kenny and Benji’s relationship becomes more than friendship, and Edith shoots something she really shouldn’t shoot, the formerly indifferent outside world comes barging in whether they want it to or not.

Recipient of a 2012 Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association Citation

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Plays

Film Chinois

Drama | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2011

by DAMON CHUA

Randolph, a fresh-faced American operative, has been sent to the Raymond Chandler-esque Imperial City with an important mission. He makes progress, but soon chances into a staunch Maoist named Chinadoll, his would-be adversary and lover. As Randolph plunges deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness of what was once the most beautiful city in the world, he soon finds his life imperiled, even as he begins to unravel the mystery of a piece of old homemade film, and the whereabouts of a beautiful woman who seems to have vanished into thin air.

In Love and Warcraft

Comedy | 3m, 3f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2014

by MADHURI SHEKAR

Evie Malone, gamer girl, college senior, and confirmed virgin has it all figured out. Not only does she command a top-ranked guild in World of Warcraft with her online boyfriend, she also makes a little cash on the side writing love letters for people who’ve screwed up their relationships. Love is like Warcraft, after all. It’s all about strategies, game plans, and not taking stupid risks. WINNER - 2013-2014 Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award

Luce

Drama | 2m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2013

by JC LEE

A probing play that addresses issues of privilege, race, and trust. When a teacher makes an alarming discovery about Luce, an all-star high school student, Luce’s parents are forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted years ago from a war-torn African country. Told primarily from the perspective of the adults, it raises questions about the roles that parents and teachers play in the lives of these teenage students.

She Kills Monsters

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 6f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2011

by QUI NGUYEN

A comedic romp into the world of fantasy role-playing. Agnes leaves her childhood home in Ohio following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. When Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, she stumbles into a journey of discovery and actionpacked adventure in the imaginary world that was Tilly’s refuge. WINNER - 2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award

The Sonic Life of a Giant Tortoise

Dramatic Comedy |3m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2014

b y T O S H I K I O K A D A , t r a n s l a t e d b y AY A O G AW A

A man dreams that his girlfriend is dead. Not because he wants to kill her but because he imagines his life would be more meaningful to have a girlfriend who has died. A woman dreams she is riding the subway, forever. She arrives at a mysterious gathering deep underground. When she returns to her real life, she finds that decades have gone by and her boyfriend is aged and dying. A modern folktale set against an urban landscape.

Vengeance Can Wait

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2008

by YUKIKO MOTOYA, translati on by KYOKO YO SHIDA and A NDY BRAGE N

A different kind of love story. A couple has the ideal domestic relationship: he spends his days planning the perfect revenge, while she awaits her perfect punishment. Dark, twisted, and touching, the couple comes to understand the “kinks” in their relationship, and embrace them.

Year Zero

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 1f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 2010

by MICHAEL GOLAMCO

Vuthy Vichea is a 16-year-old Cambodian American. He loves hip hop and Dungeons & Dragons. He has thick-ass glasses.

He is a weird kid in a place where weirdness can be fatal: Long Beach, California. Since his best friend moved and his mother died, the only person he can talk to is a human skull he keeps hidden in a cookie jar. A comedic drama about young Cambodian Americans; about reincarnation, reinvention, and ultimately, redemption.

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Marie Antoinette b y D AV I D A D J M I

Drama | 6m, 3f, 1b, Expandable and Reduced Casting 90 minutes | World Premiere 2012

A contemporary take on the young queen of France. Marie is a confection created by a society that values extravagance and artifice. But France’s love affair with the royals sours as revolution brews, and for Marie, the political suddenly becomes very personal. From the light and breezy banter at the palace to the surging chants of “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité!” in the streets, Marie Antoinette holds a mirror up to our contemporary society that might just be entertaining itself to death.

“This tough-minded play doesn’t offer a middle path... Adjmi complicates the satire by imbuing his doomed protagonist with intellectual vibrancy and genuine compassion.”

– Time Out New York “David Adjmi’s pivotal work...he resembles artists as diverse as Luis Buñuel and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Adjmi’s brilliance is to use trashy vernacular speech to allude to the way history trashes us.” – The New Yorker “In Adjmi's work, even the most innocent-seeming sweetmeats have bitter fillings: brutality, acid, blood... Macarons cede to just desserts, gowns to rags, quips to insane ramblings, gilded dream to caustic nightmare. And still the degradation continues.”

– The Village Voice

Marin Ireland in Marie Antoinette, SohoRep, 2013 (Pavel Antonov).

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Plays AUGUST WILSON’s

Wonderful Tennessee

Jitney

by BRIAN FRIEL

Drama | 8m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1982

Drama | 3m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 1993

WINNER - 1982 New York Drama Critics, Best New Play

“This mythic journey into a world of ambiguous ritual, classical references and commonplace miseries has something of the magical, yes, almost wordless resonance of a Yeats poem.” - New York Post

A haunting play by this celebrated Irish writer finds three couples on a deserted pier in Ballybeg, Ireland.

There to celebrate Terry’s birthday, they are waiting for a boat that will take them to a mystical island, rumored to be the site of sacrificial rituals, which Terry claims to have bought. Drunken hilarity gives way to reflection as the couples play games, tell stories, and sing songs to pass the time.

Regular cabs will not travel to the Pittsburgh Hill District of the 1970s, so the residents turn to each other. Jitney dramatizes the lives of men hustling to make a living as jitneys: unofficial, unlicensed cab drivers. When the boss’s son returns from prison, violence threatens to erupt. A beautiful addition to the author’s decade by decade play cycle about the American Black experience in the 20th century.

One Shoe Off

by TINA HOWE

Keep Your Pantheon b y D AV I D M A M E T Comedy | 11m, | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2009

Comedy | 3m, 2f | Full Length Play| World Premiere 2004

“Rich, gorgeous and compelling. It is about such good things as love, art, acting and survival, magic and marriage, nursery tales and ghost stories.. This is an exquisite, funny play.” - New York Post

An impoverished acting company on the edge of eviction is offered a lucrative engagement. But through a series of riotous mishaps, the troupe finds its problems have actually multiplied, and that they are about to learn a new meaning for the term “dying on stage.”

Leonard is an actor who hasn’t worked in 11 years; Dinah is an overworked costume designer who can’t dress herself. They’ve invited their new neighbors, an overworked editor who delights in reciting nursery rhymes and his beautiful movie starlet wife for dinner.

Things explode when a friend who is a successful movie director drops in. Old memories stir and new passions kindle as vegetables and Dinah’s costumes fly.

Jewtopia

A Lifetime Burning

“There’s no doubting the affection behind Keep Your Pantheon for both one of the oldest traditions of comedy and one of the oldest professions.” - The New York Times

by CUSI CRAM

by BRYAN FOGEL & SAM WOLFSON

Dramatic Comedy | 1m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2009

Comedy | 4m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2004

“The dialogue crackles with snappy sarcasms.”

- The New York Times

“Unstoppable! Fogel and Wolfson have created one of the biggest theatrical hits!” - The New York Times

Chris, a gentile, wants to marry a Jewish girl so he’ll never have to make another decision. Adam Lipschitz, a Jew, wants to marry a Jewish girl to please his family, but can’t get a date to save his life. After meeting at a Jewish singles mixer, Adam and Chris form a secret pact. Chris promises that he will help Adam find the Jewish girl of his dreams and show him “Jewtopia,” but only if Adam will help Chris shed his gentile-ness and bring him undercover into the Jewish world.

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If you had the power to revise your past, what would you change? Who would you be? Trust fund darling Emma imagines what her life would have been like had she come from a less privileged background. Trouble is, she chronicles her alternate life in a new tell-all “memoir” that was sold for a hefty advance. When Emma is exposed, will her sister, Tess, stand by her?

Will Emma’s deceit destroy their already fractured relationship? This dark comedy brings up questions of legacy, loyalty, and what it means to belong.

THE PLAYS OF

Mark Ravenhill

Our job as writers is to provide a sort of espresso shot. Grab them quickly, grab them hard – otherwise they will change channels or walk away.

- Mark Ravenhill, the joy of slow theatre, The Guardian, 2009

Shopping and Fucking

Drama | 4m, 1f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 1996

A ground-breaking drama and central work of the 1990s “in yer face” British theatre movement. In ’90s London, five characters, drifters and sex traders, are linked loosely and intermittently in a gritty, grimy urban society: a depressing microcosm of drugs, shoplifting, prostitution, and sexual adventure. The characters have shunned morality and conduct hedonistic and destructive lives in this shocking, humorous, nihilistic play that examines a completely corrupted society. A witty and shocking look at a corrosive disposable world and a numb, desperate generation.

Some Explicit Polaroids

Dark Comedy | 4m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 1999

An urban fairytale for today. After 15 years inside, political activist Nick emerges to find that the old causes of the 80s have become the lost causes of the 90s. As he struggles to get to grips with this new world, he collides with the new generation.

Bonded by a love of pills, parties and therapy-speak, Nadia, Tim and Victor take Nick on a search for the happy-ever-after.

Product

Dark Comedy| 1m | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2005

Olivia is a hot young starlet. Now all she needs is the script that will save her from B movie hell, a script that balances artistic integrity with blockbuster bucks. Mark thinks he's got the perfect pitch – a script that combines a torrid love story with the dark spectre of terrorism and big, big explosions. If he can only persuade Amy, he's got the perfect Product.

Pool (No Water)

Drama | Ensemble Cast, Flexible Casting | 60 minutes | World Premiere 2006

A famous artist invites her old friends to her luxurious new home. For one night only, the group is back together. But celebrations come to an abrupt end when the host suffers a horrific accident. As the victim lies in a coma, an almost unthinkable plan starts to take shape: could her suffering be their next work of art? A visceral and shocking new play about the fragility of friendship and the jealousy and resentment inspired by success.

Additional Titles Candide The Cut The Experiment Ghost Story Golden Child

Handbag Mother Clap's Molly House Over There Scenes From Family Life Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat

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Plays

Torch Song Trilogy

by HARVEY FIERSTEIN Drama | 4m, 2f | Full Length Play | B'way Premiere 1982

WINNER - 1983 Tony Award, Best Play WINNER - 1983 Drama Desk, Outstanding Play WINNER - 1982 New York Drama Critics' Circle, Best American Play

“A very funny, poignant and unabashedly entertaining work that, so help me, is something for the whole family...the zappiest evening of theatre you could ask for.” – Newsweek “Under the tragedy, the play is gorgeously funny.” – New York Post

Todd Lawson, Brandon Uranowitz, and Sarah Grace Wilson in Torch Song Trilogy at Studio Theatre, Washington, DC. (Teddy Wolff).

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The life of Arnold Beckoff, a torch songsinging, Jewish drag queen living in New York City is dramatized over the span of the late 1970s and 1980s, through Stonewall, the AIDS crises, and other milestone moments in LGBT history. Told with a likable, human voice, Arnold struggles through love, disease, and the challenges of child-rearing. A groundbreaking work of modern theatre, constructed of three plays told over three acts: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First!

The Herd

Rest

by RORY KINNEAR

by SAMUEL D. HUNTER

Drama | 4m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2013

Drama | 4m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2014

“...wise and truthful new play from Rory Kinnear that...has many moments that bring the tears flooding to your eyes.”

- The Chicago Tribune

“Touching, richly-staged and beautifully-acted…oh-so-engrossing and oh-so-funny.” - Broadway World

Andy, brain-damaged and physically incapacitated from birth, has a mental age of ten months. Carol, his anxiety-ridden mother, has arranged a small family party to celebrate Andy’s 21st birthday. Not that he’s counting. But Carol is. Counting the minutes until he arrives, counting the unexpected guests, counting the times that this has happened before. A witty and heartfelt look at family life when it doesn’t turn out quite the way you imagined.

A retirement home in northern Idaho is being shut down, and only three residents and a bare-bones staff remain. When a record breaking blizzard blows into town and an elderly resident disappears into the storm, everyone is brought to face his own mortality.

Poor Richard

by JEAN KERR Comedy | 2m, 3f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2003

Fiction

by STEVEN DIETZ Drama | 1m, 2f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2004

“Everything about the play has an elegance and richness our theater sees too seldom.” - New York Daily News

Linda and Michael Waterman are both successful writers, happily married to each other. They thrive on the give and take of their unusually honest and candid relationship. When they decide to share their diaries with each other, the boundaries between past and present, fact and fiction, trust and betrayal begin to break down. No life, as it turns out, is an open book.

Calendar Girls

by TIM FIRTH Comedy | 4m, 9f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2010

WINNER - What’s On Stage Award, Best New Comedy 2010

When Annie’s husband dies of leukemia, she and best friend Chris raise money for a new settee in the local hospital waiting room. They manage to persuade four fellow WI members to pose nude with them for an “alternative” calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence. News of the women’s charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of press soon descend on the small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. The calendar is a success, but Chris and Annie’s friendship is put to the test under the strain of their newfound fame.

“A thoroughly delightful evening.... Not only steadily funny but remarkably touching.” - New York Post

While a poet is in America to consult with his publisher and to attend the dedication of a hospital wing to the memory of his late wife, his publisher’s secretary determines to marry him. His public image of having written beautiful and tremendously successful verses on the death of his wife and then turning in sorrow to drink is a facade. He fears that he did not love her at all, and he refuses to attend the dedication. The secretary forces a confrontation with the truth, and from the pages of the loving wife’s diary comes the hope of peace at last.

No Foreigners Beyond This Point

by WARREN LEIGHT Drama | 4m, 4f | Full Length Play | World Premiere 2005

“The play follows a rather gentle path, but one that smartly finds ways to occasionally trip up the do good outsiders as well as the tentative insiders.” - CurtainUp

Two Americans arrive in China right after the Cultural Revolution when the country is just starting to open up to foreigners. Their naiveté is astounding as they blunder into the heavily socialist and guarded community. They are spied on, obliquely threatened, and mystified by local ways. Two fish out of water try to navigate their way, as culture and customs clash.

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Plays

Courtesy of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

THE PLAYS OF

Sarah Ruhl

Her plays are bold. Her nonlinear form of realism – full of astonishments, surprises and mysteries – is low on exposition and psychology. She writes with space, sound and image as well as words; her goal is to make the audience live in the moment, to make the known unfamiliar in order to reanimate it.

– John Lahr, Surreal Life: The Plays of Sarah Ruhl, The New Yorker, 2008

Stage Kiss

Comedy | 4m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2011

Art imitates Life. Life imitates Art. When two actors with a history are thrown together as romantic leads in a forgotten 1930s melodrama, they quickly lose touch with reality as the story onstage follows them offstage. A charming tale about what happens when lovers share a stage kiss, or when actors share a real one.

Late, A Cowboy Song

Comedy | 1m, 2f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2010

This play is for all the lady cowboys of heart and mind who ride outside the city limits of convention. Mary, always late and always married, meets a lady cowboy outside the city limits of Pittsburgh who teaches her how to ride a horse. Mary’s husband, Crick, buys a painting with the last of their savings. Mary and Crick have a baby, but they can’t decide on the baby’s name, or the baby’s gender. A story of one woman’s education and her search to find true love outside the box.

Passion Play

Dramatic Comedy | 8m, 3f, flexible casting | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2005

This intimate epic occurs at the intersection of politics and religion. A community of players rehearses its annual Easter Passion play in three different eras: 1575 England, just before Queen Elizabeth outlaws the ritual; 1934 Oberammergua, Bavaria, as Hitler rises to power; and Spearfish, South Dakota, from the time of Vietnam through the Reagan Era. At each time, the players grapple with the transformative nature of art, while politics are never far in the background.

Additional Titles The Clean House Dead Man's Cell Phone Eurydice In The Next Room, or the vibrator play

Melancholy Play, a contemporary farce Melancholy Play, a chamber musical (with Todd Almond) Three Sisters (translation/adaptation)

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The Simple Path of

Melancholy Play

by Todd Almond

A brief description of what it’s like to work with Sarah Ruhl, and the magic that comes from it.

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F eatures

S

arah Ruhl called me one day to ask if I would meet her for tea to discuss our possibly working together on a project. Being a long-time fan of her writing, I hesitated not-one-bit in saying “yes” and was soon sitting across from her discussing why music-for-theatre was the master I intended to serve for my lifetime.

or kids or plays we’d seen or books we’d read, and then I’d go back to my computer (I was composing the piece for string quartet) and we’d continue our gentle e-lobbing of the material.

I think I was crying. I wasn’t crying, I was laughing (one does both a lot in Sarah’s presence); we were both laughing, and it was immediately clear that we must write something together, playwright and composer. Sarah had an idea as to what we might write: she was a member of 13P, a writers’ collective that was formed with the mission of producing one play by each of its 13 playwrights.

Sarah was the final “P,” and her play (or what would now turn out to be a musical) was to be the last play the group produced before it imploded, successful in completing its mission.

And suddenly it was written. The whole thing. Her beautiful, strange play was now a sung-through – well, nearly sung-through – musical. And for the first and only time in my life I thought: Okay, that’s done. It had been a several-month long trance-like state of writing. There’s probably a clever way of saying that I became a bit like the character in the musical who disappears into an almond. My last name is Almond. People point this out when they hear the piece: “Hey, the character turns into an almond. Your last name is Almond! Did you two do that on purpose?” We didn’t. Or maybe we did, only we didn’t know each other when Sarah wrote that part of the play. But, and not to get too mystical about things, there was an inevitability about this whole process, so I suppose, since we don’t really know how time works, it’s possible.

Sarah wanted me to look at an early play of hers called Melancholy Play, a play that had a musical element already but that she felt wanted more exploration. I read the play and instantly had a fully-formed idea for the composition: I didn’t want to write songs (music and lyrics), I wanted to simply set the entire play to music. Many lyricists, including myself, toil endlessly to say in lyrics what Sarah says so naturally in dialogue. No surprise, I guess, as she is often described as “poetic” and “lyrical.” My job, it seemed, was half-done: just set this entire thing to music. Yes? Okay?

Sarah said, “Okay!”

There’s a generosity to Sarah and to her work that just invited me right in and yet challenged me to write in a way that I had never written. I changed as a writer (for the better) after this piece.

Our collaboration continued to be easy and fruitful throughout the production, and I suppose it would be more interesting if I said we fought or argued or couldn’t stand to be in the same room together, but not one of those things is true. Sarah Ruhl is the kind of person whom I’d always wanted to meet and with whom I’d always wanted to work.

I grew up in small-town Nebraska where theatre was something you heard about on TV but never actually saw. I knew that there were poets out there, but I didn’t know I’d meet one.

We didn’t have a lot of time as the production was already scheduled. But, as I said, the whole piece was instantly clear to me (which is not always the case. It’s never the case, actually). I sat at my computer and wrote and recorded the whole show (which took quite a lot of time, as you can imagine), sending little bits over email to Sarah as I went.

That was our process. Easy. Just little bits of her play set to music that I would email and then she would listen and respond and I would keep going.

Sometimes we’d meet in person and talk about life

The Simple Path of Melancholy Play originally appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, May 2015.

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Artwork by Erin Courtney.

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M usicals

Fun Home

music by JEANINE TESORI book & lyrics by LISA KRON based on the graphic novel by ALISON BECHDEL

Musical Drama | 2m, 4f, 2b, 1g | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2012

When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to tell the story of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man whose temperament and secrets defined her family and her life.

Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality, and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father’s hidden desires. Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

WINNER - 2015 Tony Award, Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book WINNER - 2014 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Musical WINNER - 2014 Outer Critics’ Circle Award, Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical WINNER - 2014 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Best Musical WINNER - 2014 Off-Broadway Alliance Award, Best New Musical FINALIST - 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama “A rare beauty, extraordinary and heart-gripping.”

– The New York Times “The best musical of the season.”

– New York Magazine “Few shows are as moving, relatable, and funny.”

– Associated Press “The Best Broadway Musical in years, with the finest score in a decade.”

– Huffington Post “Exquisite. An emotional powerhouse.”

– The Chicago Tribune “FIVE STARS. Fun Home has enormous intelligence and sensitivity.

It's not your ordinary Broadway musical, because it is extraordinary.”

– Time Out New York Sydney Lucas and Michael Cerveris in Fun Home at Circle in the Square Theatre, 2015 (Joan Marcus).

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Fly By Night

conceived by KIM ROSENSTOCK w r i t t e n b y W I L L C O N N O L LY , MICHAEL MITNICK & KIM ROSENSTOCK

Dark Comedy | 5m, 2f | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2011 | Small Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Pop/Rock

A star-crossed prophecy. A lot of music.

Just not a lot of light. In this darkly comic rock-fable, a melancholy sandwich maker’s humdrum life is intersected by two entrancing sisters. A sweeping ode to young love set against the backdrop of the northeast blackout of 1965.

Fly By Night is a tale about making your way and discovering hope in a world beset by darkness.

WINNER - 2011 Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award “Romance doesn’t come any sweeter than it does in this winsome love triangle set around the time of the 1965 New York blackout. The score is charming and catchy. Its unabashed emotionalism could turn it into more than a hit. It could turn it into a cult phenomenon.”

– New York Post

Adam Chanler-Berat and Allison Case in Fly by Night at Playwrights Horizons, 2014 (Joan Marcus).

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M usicals

Melancholy Play:

Golden Boy

book & lyrics by S A R A H R U H L music b y T O D D A L M O N D

book by C L I F F O R D O D E T S & WILLIAM GIBSON based on the play by C L I F F O R D O D E T S music by C H A R L E S S T R O U S E lyrics by L E E A D A M S

a chamber musical

Dramatic Comedy | 3m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2012 Small/Combo Band | Difficult Vocals | Classic B’way, Folk

“Could turn out to be quite a central pillar of the Ruhl canon… The music adds to the considerable sensuality, and the notable wit, of the piece. This is a classy show with a sparse elegance.”

- The Chicago Tribune A chamber musical version of the play. Tilly’s melancholy is of an exquisite quality. She turns her melancholy into a sexy thing, and every stranger she meets falls in love with her. One day, inexplicably, Tilly becomes happy, and wreaks havoc on the lives of her paramours. Frances, Tilly’s hairdresser, becomes so melancholy that she turns into an almond. It is up to Tilly to get her back.

Smile

Drama | 17m, 4f | Full Length Musical | B’way Premiere 1964 Large Orchestra | Classic Broadway

“A knockout, not only for the whirling excitement of its action but for the powerful punch in its comment.” - The New York Times A rousing musical play adapted from Clifford Odets’ classic drama, beginning and ending with the rhythmic, breathing exhaust of the prizefight ring. Joe Wellington, a young black man from Harlem tries to rise out of the ghetto to fame in the brutal world of boxing. But he makes one mistake: falling in love with his manager’s girl, Lorna, a seen-it-all white woman whom he loves not wisely but all too well.

New York Rock

music by M A R V I N H A M L I S C H book & lyrics by H OW A R D A S H M A N based on the screenplay by JERRY BELSON

book, lyrics & music by Y O KO O N O Drama | 8m, 2f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1994 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Modern Pop/Rock

Comedy | 6m, 7f | Full Length Musical | B’way Premiere 1986 Large Orchestra | Moderate Vocals| Classic B’way

“Impressively crafted lyrics.” - The New York Times This touching and satiric musical by the creators of Little Shop of Horrors and A Chorus Line follows the intrigue and exploits onstage and behind-the-scenes as Santa Rosa, California plays host to the Young American Miss Pageant.

Chicago book by F R E D E B B & B O B F O S S E music by J O H N K A N D E R lyrics by F R E D E B B s c r i p t a d a p t at i o n by D AV I D T H O M P S O N based on the play by M A U R I N E D A L L A S W AT K I N S

“You’ll leave buoyed up by the infectious tunefulness, gusto and life enhancing merriment. The tunes...are lively and lilting, ear tickling and foot stomping.” - The New Yorker From rock legend Yoko Ono comes this allegorical musical that weaves together a tale of senseless violence, heart wrenching despair, and resurgence of the human spirit.

In New York, love blooms between a woman who has had to flee from an abusive husband and a budding rock musician whose mother was slain by street hoodlums. Their relationship engenders an atmosphere of renewed optimism until urban violence erupts again, changing their lives forever.

Happy New Year based on Holiday by PHILLIP BARRY adapted by BURT SHEVELOVE songs by COLE PORTER

Comedy | 9m, 10f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1975 Large Band | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Jazz

WINNER - 1997 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival The Roaring Twenties, Chicago. Chorine Roxie Hart murders a faithless lover and convinces her hapless husband Amos to take the rap...until he finds out he’s been duped.

Convicted and sent to death row, Roxie and another “Merry Murderess” Velma Kelly vie for the spotlight and the headlines, both in search of the “American Dream”: fame, fortune and acquittal. The second-longest running show on Broadway! This title has restrictions, contact your Licensing Representative for details.

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Comedy | 14m, 11f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1980 Small/Combo Band | Classic B’way, American Songbook

“A playful, tuneful, civilized musical.” - New York Post A clever show that gives new life to one of America’s most popular comedies. The story concerns an eager young man who falls in love with the wrong rich girl. In the final scene he realizes that it is her young, unconventional sister whom he really loves, and the two turn their backs on old money and old values for a shared life that should prove to be a holiday.

Ready to license? Visit samuelfrench.com.

Rock of Ages

book by CHRIS D’ARIENZO mu s i c by A BUNCH OF R E A L LY S W E E T ‘ 8 0 S B A N D S

Comedy | 7m, 10f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2009 | Small/Combo Band | Difficult Vocals | Pop/Rock

Nominated for 5 Tony Awards Including Best Musical!

Set in L.A.’s infamous Sunset Strip in 1987, Rock of Ages tells the story of Drew, a cityboy from South Detroit, and Sherrie, a small-town girl, both in L.A. to chase their dreams of making it big and falling in love.

Rock of Ages takes you back to the times of big bands with big egos, playing big guitar solos, and sporting even bigger hair!

“A seriously silly, absurdly enjoyable arenarock musical. I never would have guessed that wine coolers could age this well!”

– The New York Times “As the show opens with blinding lights, shredding guitars and hammer-handed drumming, even nonbelievers may start inhaling the Aqua Net and embracing their inner rocker.” – Variety

This smash-hit musical comedy is a hilarious, rock'n'roll love story told through 30 mind blowing hits from over 20 different, hugely successful bands.

They’re the best songs from the 1980s that helped make REO Speedwagon, Twisted Sister, Foreigner, and so many more, the legendary bands they are today.

“Rock of Ages is the power-ballad decade in all its glory, tricked out with big perms, bigger dreams, and the kind of operatic ecstasy you read about only in bathroom stalls.” – Entertainment Weekly

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Musicals

M usicals

Songs Testimonial

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101 High School Edition 101 Middle School Edition (Coming Soon)

Rock of Ages at Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans, 2011 (Scott Suchman).

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mu

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School Editions

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“It offers a time capsule for people who were young in the ’80s and loved those music videos that we don’t get anymore. In the meantime it speaks to young people today because it has such amazing pop-rock singing – and it stays true to an older theatre lover because it really is a beautiful musical and a sweet love story.”

– Gateway Performing Arts Center, Long Island, NY

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Just Like Paradise / Nothin' But A Good Time Sister Christian We Built This City / Too Much Time On My Hands Heaven / More Than Words / To Be With You Waiting For A Girl Like You I Want To Know What Love Is Cum On Feel The Noize / We're Not Gonna Take It Harden My Heart / Shadows Of The Night Here I Go Again The Final Countdown Any Way You Want It / I Wanna Rock High Enough I Hate Myself For Loving You / Heat Of The Moment Hit Me With Your Best Shot Can't Fight This Feeling Every Rose Has Its Thorn Oh Sherrie The Search Is Over Don't Stop Believin'

HOW ROCK OF AGES BROUGHT THE SUNSET STRIP TO LONG ISLAND

by LAURA PALOTIE

I

n his enthusiastic 2009 New York Times review of Rock of Ages, Charles Isherwood wrote that the “absurdly enjoyable” show didn’t aspire “to be a Broadway musical for the ages.” And yet, when it closed in early 2015 after more than 2,300 performances, it had become the 27th longest-running show in the history of Broadway (that’s above Guys and Dolls, Evita and Hair).

A jukebox musical featuring buckets of hairspray, bedazzled jean jackets, dirty jokes, and hits by Poison, Bon Jovi ,and Twisted Sister sounds about as inspiring an experience as a one-night stand on the Sunset Strip.

And yet there is something about the combination of unabashed joy, selfaware campiness and nostalgia evoked by the Chris D’Arienzo-penned book that makes Rock of Ages stick.

After five years on Broadway, a national tour and a film adaptation, the show saw its first regional theater production at the Gateway Playhouse

in Long Island from May to June of of 2015. Surrounded by leafy green trees about two hours east of the city, the Gateway is modeled after a barn house from classic Americana. After an evening performance one is likelier to encounter the buzzing of crickets and a starry sky than the chorus of car horns and LED frenzy of Times Square.

In making Rock of Ages part of the Gateway’s 66th summer season, the cast and crew zoomed in on the universally appealing elements of the show – whether or not one is naturally drawn to hair metal or tales of ’80s excess.

“Rock of Ages has such a charm to it because it’s really campy, and you don’t really know how campy it’s going to be until you get there,” says Scot Allan, Gateway’s Director of Development and Public Relations.

“In the meantime it’s still a Broadway show; we are putting on a Broadway musical that also happens to be

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centered on rock music. That’s the joke of Rock of Ages, and if you execute that well, the audience is on board.”

Allan says that he saw the Broadway production of Rock of Ages a few times because of his friendship with cast member Genson Blimline, who would go on to reprise his Broadway role as narrator Lonny at the Gateway. “That production had such a cult following – people would come see it 20 or 30 times – and our core audience isn’t necessarily that. We have some subscribers who come to every show we put on, no matter what it is. So we were a little nervous about how people would deal with this type of musical,” he says.

“Our toughest crowd is always the matinee after opening night, and during our first Thursday matinee all of us were in the back watching and holding our breath,” he says. “And people were loving it; they were on the edge of their seats by the end. That’s when I knew we had a hit, because

F eatures these aren’t necessarily rock music fans in the Thursday afternoon crowd.”

Obtaining rights to hit Broadway shows as soon as they become available is a conscious strategy for the Gateway: in past years they have put on productions such as Legally Blonde and Young Frankenstein. According to Allan, the theater’s close proximity to New York City is both a blessing and a curse.

“We can attract some of the biggest names [to perform] because getting here is so easy for them – but at the same time our audience can also go to New York City and see the best live theater in the world,” he says. “So once Rock of Ages became available and we were granted the rights, there was no question that we were going to do it. We have to stay current, keep the young people coming through our doors and keep ourselves relevant.”

The Gateway production used the costumes and sets of the touring production of Rock of Ages, and included a few veterans from the Broadway production, including Genson Blimline, Amma Osei and lead guitarist Tommy Kessler in addition to newcomers. Allan adds that the show, perhaps unexpectedly, became the kind of generationspanning production that the Gateway was looking for.

“It offers a time capsule for people who were young in the ’80s and loved those music videos that we don’t get anymore. In the meantime it speaks to young people today because it has such amazing rock pop singing – and it stays true to an older theater lover because it really is a beautiful musical and a sweet love story,” he says.

Director Keith Andrews, a fan of both the music of the era and the show itself, was eager to tackle the project. During the rehearsal process he wanted to ensure that the show felt accessible to Gateway’s audience base, which spans from teens to retirees.

“One important part of the show is that [narrator] Lonny has room to ad lib as he talks to the audience.

I didn’t give Genson any rules of what he could and couldn’t say, just that he couldn’t add any extra cursing. Knowing that our audience base would be slightly older than on Broadway, we didn’t want anyone to think that all we do is curse. That’s not what the show is about anyway,” Andrews says.

“When you think musical theater, you don’t think Rock of Ages, and that can draw in a whole new crowd.”

“Not knowing the exact choreography of the Broadway production, I grounded mine a bit more in rock.

I also made the choice to have the stripper characters be more teasing than in the audience’s face,” he adds.

“My goal was to reel everybody in rather than have them be taken aback, because I really loved the show and wanted to do it justice.”

Blimline, who was a member of the Broadway cast at the time of the production’s closing in early 2015, also notes the difference in atmosphere.

“It was definitely not as crazy as in Manhattan, where we sold $12 cocktails up and down the aisles,” he says. “There was a bit more initial hesitancy on the audience’s part [at the Gateway] as far as being involved – my guess is that many were used to being respectful audience members – but we also had a few superfans come, and all you really needed was a few boisterous people in the audience to get things going. The rules of this show are different than what many are used to.”

Blimline is quick to defend the concept of the jukebox musical, which

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is sometimes encountered with snark.

“These shows have a long life on Broadway and on tours, and people love them – there is nothing wrong with that,” he says. “In Rock of Ages you get to have a flashback through these songs – they are what get many people through the door – but you also get this great script that many people aren’t expecting.”

Emily Behny, whose previous credits include the national tours of Wicked and Beauty and the Beast, played Sherrie, the story’s heroine who shows up bright-eyed at the Sunset Strip in hopes of pursuing an acting career.

She was excited to explore a role that was entirely different from the work she had previously done.

“Rock of Ages is not your typical musical. It’s not Rodgers and Hammerstein where you might fall asleep within 20 minutes. When you think musical theater you don’t think Rock of Ages, and that can draw in a whole new crowd. It has that spectacle that every age group can get excited by, and that love story that appeals to young and old alike – and it’s funny and crude at the same time,” she says.

“For my character, everything is sunshine and bubbles and puppies at first – she sees the best in everything and everyone – but that can also get her in trouble. She is endearing, but has to toughen up quickly. She learns that life can throw you curveballs and that each of your decisions has consequences. When she gets her heart broken, she also finds a lot more depth to her,” she says.

“The heart of the show is the idea that the dreams you end up with aren’t the same dreams with which you started,” says Keith Andrews.

“The comedy brings you in, but it’s that heart that makes you fall in love.”

This article originally appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, June 2015.

The cast of Rock of Ages, Gateway Performing Arts Center, Bellport, NY, 2015 (Jeff Bellante).

The People vs. Mona b o o k by J I M W A N N & P AT R I C I A M I L L E R music & lyrics J I M W A N N Comedy/Mystery | 3m, 4m, 3m/f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 2012 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Pop/Rock, Country

“Plenty of laughs! The jaunty score has a strong country feel but also displays plenty of...variety. Consistently inventive!” - New York Post Mona Mae Katt owns the Frog Pad, the long-time musical heart of Tippo, Georgia. She is accused of killing C.C. Katt, her husband of ten hours. Defending her is Jim Summerford, a Southern gentleman, and Mayoral candidate Mavis Frye, his fiancée. Jim becomes attracted to her, and Mavis ups the stakes: she wants to convict Mona, marry Jim, and tear down the Frog Pad to put up a casino.

27 Rue de Fleurus (My Life with Gertrude) book & lyrics by T E D S O D music & lyrics by L I S A KO C H Dramatic Comedy | 5m |75 minutes | World Premiere 2008 Piano Only| Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Rock, Folk

“27 Rue de Fleurus gets its sweetness from a genuine love of its subject.” - The Village Voice Alice tries to set the record straight about being Gertrude Stein’s “wife” for nearly 40 years. Gertrude grows tired of Alice’s lack of panache for telling her perspective of their story and attempts to hijack the play. This celebrated couple confronts each other about love, marriage, jealousy, and genius, while Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mabel Dodge, Sylvia Beach, and even Jean Harlow drop by for visits.

See Rock City & Other Destinations music by B R A D A L E X A N D E R b o o k & l y r i c s by A D A M M AT H I A S

Dramatic Comedy | 4m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2010 Small/Combo Band | Moderate Vocals | Pop/Rock, Folk

“An excellent and moving new musical... It’s also beautiful, it’s hopeful, and it’s - in the best sense of the word - sweet.” - The New York Observer A wanderer believes his destiny is written on rooftops along the North Carolina Interstate. A young man yearns to connect with intelligent life in Roswell, New Mexico. A woman at the Alamo takes a chance on love. Three estranged sisters cruise to Glacier Bay to scatter their father’s ashes. A terrified bride-to-be ponders taking the leap...over Niagara Falls. With a book full of humor and humanity, and a score that incorporates pop, rock, folk and more, this is a musical about connections missed and made at tourist destinations across America.

Adding Machine: A Musical

composed by J O S H U A S C H M I DT libretto by J A S O N LO E W I T H & JOSHUA SCHMIDT based on the play by E L M E R R I C E Drama | 5m, 4f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 2008 Small/Combo Band | Difficult Vocals | Operetta

WINNER - 2008 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Musical A darkly comic and heartbreakingly beautiful musical adaptation of Rice’s incendiary 1923 play. Mr. Zero, after 25 years of service to his company, is replaced by a mechanical adding machine. Enraged, he murders his boss.

An eclectic score gives memorable voice to this stylish and stylized show, following Zero’s journey to the afterlife, where he is met with one last chance for romance and redemption.

ReWrite:

A Musical Comedy Triple Feature

by J O E I C O N I S Comedy/Trilogy | 3m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2008 Piano Only| Pop/Rock

“Beneath Iconis’s quirkiness lies a talented dramatist who knows how to create a nicely integrated musical.” - CurtainUp Three wild musicals connect in surprising and dangerous ways. Nelson Rocks! is a pop/rock show about a young dude who needs to fix his life before the ‘You better get to class’ bell rings. Miss Marzipan is a dizzy tale of the life-changing preparations that go into a high-stakes suburban dinner party. A bit of blood is spilt. The Process deals with a writer on a deadline. A Dunkin’ Donuts counter lady is our guide through this passionate look into one man’s writing process.

Nymph Errant book by S T E V E M AC K E S & MICHAEL WHALEY music & lyrics by C O L E P O R T E R b a s e d o n t h e n o v e l by J A M E S L AV E R Comedy | 1m, 7f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1933 Small/Combo Band | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way

“Hauntingly beautiful numbers [that] can stand with Porter’s finest love songs.” - The Daily Telegraph Cole Porter’s famous “lost musical.” Innocent Evangeline Edwards bids farewell to a Swiss finishing school and sets off across Europe looking for love and adventure. She gets into one scrape after another only to be “rescued” by a series of unsuitable men: a French producer, Russian musician, Austrian nudist, Italian count, Greek magnate, Turkish Pasha, and a eunuch all played by the same actor.

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M usicals

The Wiz

Adapted from “THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ” by L. FRANK BAUM book by WILLIAM F. BROWN music & lyrics by CHARLIE SMALLS

Comedy | 6m, 5f, 4m or f, flexible casting | Full Length Musical | B’way Premiere 1974 Large Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Pop/Rock, Jazz

A beloved Broadway gem, The Wiz infuses L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with a dazzling mix of rock, gospel, and soul music. This timeless tale of Dorothy’s adventures through the Land of Oz is a fun, family-friendly, modern musical and one of the most popular shows in the Samuel French catalog. It is appropriate for theaters at all levels.

“Radiates so much energy you can hardly sit in your seat...great fun.” – New York Post “A virtual musical circus...driving rhythms, soaring songs...boisterous, exuberant.” –WABC TV “Unquestionably, the humor and the heartbeat of the piece remain African-American at their source, but the overall effect is pluralistic and inclusive. In the truest and most positive sense of the phrase, [the] show is color-blind.” – Variety “A carnival of fun...wickedly amusing show.” – Time

Darius Colquitt, Jesse Dean Stanford, Adrianna Parson, James Earl Jones II, and Dwelvan David in The Wiz at Theatre at the Center in Munster, ID, 2011 (Michael Brosilow).

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Ruthless!

book & lyrics by J O E L P A L E Y music by M A R V I N L A I R D Comedy/Parody | 6f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1992 Small/Combo Band | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way

“A spoof that has enough absurd plot twists and multiple identities to fill several old movies... The fun comes from the sheer brazenness!”

- The New York Times Eight-year-old Tina Denmark knows she was born to play Pippi Longstocking, and she will do anything to win the part in her school musical. Anything, including murdering the leading lady!

Leader of the Pack: The Ellie Greenwich Musical b o o k by A N N E B E AT T S music & lyrics by E L L I E G R E E N W I C H & FRIENDS based on an original play by MELANIE MINTZ additional material by J AC K H E I F N E R Comedy | 4m, 10f | 90 minutes | B’way Premiere 1985 Large Orchestra | Easy Vocals | Pop/Rock

“A happy, high spirited, foot stomping romp. I never realized the songs of the sixties could sound so good.” - WNBC Radio This hit Broadway musical retrospective celebrates the life and times of Ellie Greenwich, whose doo-wop sounds skyrocketed to the top of the sixties charts. The story of Ellie’s rise to fame and fortune is punctuated with the virtual Hit Parade of her music: “Chapel of Love,” “Da Do Ron Ron,” “Be My Baby,” “Hanky Panky,” Do Wah Diddy,” “And Then He Kissed Me” and, of course, the title song, “Leader of the Pack.”

Flora, The Red Menace b o o k by D AV I D T H O M P S O N music by J O H N K A N D E R lyrics by F R E D E B B b a s e d o n a n o v e l by L E S T E R AT W E L L originally adapted by G E O R G E A B B OT T

Dramatic Comedy | 5m, 4f | Full Length Musical | B’way Premiere 1965 Piano Only

“The score is consistently winning and often quite funny.” - WQXR Radio Musical cultists will remember this show as the first Broadway collaboration between Kander and Ebb as well as the Tony Award-winning debut of Liza Minnelli as Flora Mezaros. With a new, updated book that presents a romance of charming simplicity set amidst the American communist agitation during the Great Depression. Is Flora a “red menace” or just that good old Broadway standby: a Girl in Love?

Trey Parker's Cannibal! The Musical book, music & lyrics by NEW CANNIBAL SOCIETY

Comedy | 10m, 2f | 105 minutes| World Premiere 1993 Piano Only | Moderate Vocals |Classic B'way, Country/Western

“It's finger-licking good, a tasty 90 minutes of yummy production numbers and intense spiritual crises...it will take a truly jaded soul to push away from the table before this often hilarious meal is over.

Bon appetit!” - San Francisco Examiner

The Gig

The true story of the only person convicted of cannibalism in America – Alferd Packer. The sole survivor of an illfated trip to the Colorado Territory, he tells his side of the harrowing tale to news reporter Polly Pry as he awaits his execution. And his story goes like this: While searching for gold and love in the Colorado Territory, he and his companions lost their way and resorted to unthinkable horrors, including toe-tapping songs!

book, music & lyrics by DOUGLAS J. COHEN based on the film by F R A N K D . G I L R OY

A New Brain

Dramatic Comedy | 8m, 3f | 120 minutes | World Premiere 1994 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Jazz

“A winning musical...steeped in the tradition of old-time, goodtime musical comedy!” -The New York Times A used car salesman, a dentist, a real estate agent, a financial advisor, a deli owner, and a music teacher get together once a week to play jazz. When one answers an ad and gets a two week gig in the Catskills, they shed their ordinary lives and begin an adventure that reveals truths about friendship, the joy of music, and the importance of dreams.

Ready to license? Visit samuelfrench.com.

book by W I L L I A M F I N N & J A M E S L A P I N E music & lyrics WILLIAM FINN Drama | 6m, 4f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1998 Small/Combo Band | Difficult Vocals | Classic B’way

“Apt and original... A fascinating story.” - New York Post Gordon collapses into his lunch and awakes in the hospital surrounded by his maritime-enthusiast lover, his mother, a co-worker, the doctor and the nurses. Reluctantly, he had been composing a song for a children’s television show that features a frog, Mr. Bungee, and the specter of this large green character and the unfinished work haunts him throughout his medical ordeal.

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M usicals

Adrift in Macao

book & lyrics by CHRISTOPHER DURANG music by PETER MELNICK Comedy/Parody | 4m, 3f | 100 minutes | World Premiere 2007 | Small/Combo Band | Classic B’way

Everyone that comes to Macao is waiting for something, and though none of them know exactly what that is, they hang around to find out. The characters include your film noir standards, like Laureena, the curvaceous blonde, who luckily bumps into Rick Shaw, the cynical surf and turf casino owner.

With songs and quips, puns and farcical shenanigans, this musical parody is bound to please audiences of all ages. Adrift in Macao is a loving parody of film noir movies.

“And there are of course those songs...Melnick demonstrates an affinity for melody and old-fashioned showmanship that links him to his grandfather, Richard Rodgers...”

– Talkin’ Broadway “...with a drop-dead funny book and shamefully silly lyrics by Christopher Durang and lethally catchy music by Peter Melnick, Adrift In Macao lovingly parodies the Hollywood film noir classics of the 1940s and 50s...” – Broadway World Rachel de Benedet, Michelle Ragusa, Alan Campbell, and Orville Mendoza in Adrift in Macao at Primary Stages, 2007 (James Leynse).

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Blood Brothers

b o o k , m u s i c & l y r i c s b y W I L LY R U S S E L L Drama | 5m, 3f | 120+ minutes | B’way Premiere 1993 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way

“A full bodied musical, a wonderful melodrama that is also a thoroughly modern ballad opera.” - The Wall Street Journal A haunting rags to riches tragedy of our times. A woman with numerous children to support surrenders one of her newborn twins to the childless woman she cleans for. The boys grow up streets apart, never learning the truth but becoming firm friends and falling in love with the same girl. One prospers while the other falls on hard times. A narrator warns that a price has to be paid for separating twins: the lives of the blood brothers, who die on the day they find out they are related.

Side Show

book & lyrics by B I L L R U S S E L L music by H E N R Y K R I E G E R Drama | 13m, 9f | 120+ minutes | B’way Premiere 1997 Large Orchestra | Difficult Vocals | Classic B’way, Pop/Rock

“Daring, enthralling ...[with] passion, empathy and directness [that is] reflected in the tidal pull of the music and the winning simplicity of the lyrics.” - The New York Times Based on the true story of conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton who became stars during the Depression, Side Show is a moving portrait of two women joined at the hip whose extraordinary bondage brings them fame but denies them love. Told almost entirely through song, the show follows their progression from England to America, around the vaudeville circuit and to Hollywood on the eve of their appearance in the 1932 movie Freaks.

Sweet Smell of Success Return to the Forbidden Planet music by M A R V I N H A M L I S C H lyrics by C R A I G C A R N E L I A book by J O H N G U A R E based on the novella by ERNEST LEHMAN & the MGM motion picture screenplay by CLIFFORD ODETS & ERNEST LEHMAN Drama | 18m, 9f | Full Length Musical | B’way Premiere 2002 Large Orchestra | Classic Broadway

“Guare has bravely gone beyond slavish adaptation while retaining many of the Hunseckerisms that fans of the film love to quote.”

- Curtain Up It’s New York, 1952. J.J. Hunsecker rules Broadway with his daily gossip column in the New York Globe, syndicated to 60 million readers across America. J.J. has the goods on everyone, from the President to the latest starlet. When a young press agent, Sidney, tries to hitch his wagon to J.J. – all while keeping secrets about his client’s new relationship with J.J.’s sister – he learns that you can become no one if J.J. turns on you.

Dani Girl

b o o k b y B O B C A R LT O N

Comedy/Sci-Fi | 7m, 4f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1989 Small/Combo Band | Moderate Vocals | Pop/Rock

WINNER - 1989 Olivier Award, Best Musical Blast off on a routine flight and crash into the planet D’Illyria where a sci-fi version of The Tempest set to rock’n’roll golden oldies unfolds with glee. The planet is inhabited by a sinister scientist, Dr. Prospero; his delightful daughter Miranda; Ariel, a faithful robot on roller skates; and an uncontrollable monster, the product of Prospero’s Id, whose tentacles penetrate the space craft. A juke box musical is packed with rock’n’roll classics such as “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Young Girl,” “Good Vibrations,” and “Gloria.”

Death Takes A Holiday

book by T H O M A S M E E H A N & PETER STONE music & lyrics by M AU R Y Y E S T O N based on the play by A L B E R T O C A S S E L L A

music by M I C H A E L KO O M A N book & lyrics by C H R I S T O P H E R D I M O N D

Dramatic Comedy | 7m, 7f | 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2011 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Jazz

Dramatic Comedy | 2m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2011 Small/Combo Band | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Pop/Rock

“Timeless appeal... One lush, soaring number after another...a melodyrich score that draws on a wide range of influences, from the Baroque to the British poperetta craze of the 1980s.” - The New York Times It’s just after World War I and Death, the loneliest of souls, arrives at an Italian villa disguised as a handsome young Prince. For the first time, he experiences the joys and heartbreaks of life. Based on the play by Alberto Cassella, and later made into a 1934 film starring Fredric March and a 1998 film starring Brad Pitt.

“I have not seen anything so creatively imaginative, powerful, and moving for a long time.” - AussieTheatre.com When Dani, a precocious nine-year-old, loses her hair to leukemia, she embarks on a magical journey to get it back.

Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, Dani Girl is a tale of life in the face of death, hope in the face of despair, and the indomitable power of the human imagination.

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M usicals

THE MUSICALS OF

Elizabeth Swados “Opera” and “Musical Theater” are terms that come from specific times in history and we need new terms for our life in the present tense. New forms are fusing and colliding with old forms and it’s an exciting reinterpretation of theater and music.

– Elizabeth Swados, New Music Box, 2001

Runaways

Drama | 11m, 9f | Full Length Musical | B'way Premiere 1977 | Small/Combo Band

A collection of songs sung by troubled children. The characters were taken from workshops conducted by Swados with real-life runaways in the late 1970s. While the subject is primarily runaway children from broken homes, Runaways comments on the larger world in which the children live. NOMINEE - 1978 Tony Award for Best Lyrics, Best Music, and Best Musical.

Alice in Concert

Drama | 6m, 6f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1980 | Small/Combo Band

This “music hall” version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass was originally produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theatre, starring a young Meryl Streep. An imaginative rendering of the Lewis Carroll classic is performed concert-style on a bare stage, the actors in modern rehearsal clothes. Stylistically, the music ranges from rock to country/western to calypso, as the outlandish characters of “Wonderland” are reinterpreted in this “story theatre”-type setting.

The Haggadah

Drama | 19m, 19f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1980 | Large Orchestra

This “Passover oratorio” is a disarmingly simple account of the birth and life of Moses, and of the Exodus, done with masks and a clever use of puppetry. This unique show was originally produced (and later revived) during Passover at Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theatre.

Doonesbury

Comedy | 7m, 2f | Full Length Musical | B'way Premiere 1983 | Large Orchestra

A delightful romp of a show based on Garry Trudeau's famous comic strip. While they try to make it through commencement, the Walden crowd must fend off Zonker's uncle Duke, who wants to bulldoze their off campus house and replace it with condos. Michael Doonesbury steadfastly pursues the feisty and lovely J.J., while J.J. tries to come to terms with her long lost mother, Joanie Caucus.

The Red Sneaks

Drama | 4m, 4f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1989 | Piano Only

A free wheeling contemporary musical for teens is a loose adaptation of the The Red Shoes, transposed to today's urban jungle.

The allegorical montage of songs, scenes and monologues centers around a welfare hotel resident who is persuaded by a mysterious young drifter to accept a pair of glittery red sneakers. Whoever is wearing them may wish for anything, and every wish comes true, but the easy way out turns out to be a fast trip to an early death.

Jewish Girlz

Drama | 12f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 2003 |Piano Only

During a weekend retreat sponsored by two female rabbis, the atmosphere in the country log cabin evolves from shyness and contempt into a tell-all session among adolescent Jewish girls from all types of families and backgrounds. Stories and songs transcend stereotypes to find individuality, heart and humor and to touch on sensitive issues such as pressure, self-esteem, the fast pace of this decade, and what it means to be a girl – not just a Jewish girl – in modern society.

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Hands on a Hardbody book by DOUG WRIGHT lyrics by AMANDA GREEN music by TREY ANASTASIO & AMANDA GREEN

Dramatic Comedy | 9m, 6f | 120 minutes | B'way Premiere 2013 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Pop/Rock, Country/Western

“You can hear the sound of America singing in this daring new musical!”

– The New York Times “Completely, satisfyingly right!”

– Wall Street Journal “Hands down it’s musical theatre heaven!”

– New York Magazine

For ten hard-luck Texans, a new lease on life is so close they can touch it. Under a scorching sun for days on end, armed with nothing but hope, humor, and ambition, they’ll fight to keep at least one hand on a brand-new truck in order to win it. In the hilarious, hard-fought contest only one winner can drive away with the American Dream. Inspired by the true events of the acclaimed 1997 documentary of the same name by S.R. Bindler, produced by Kevin Morris and Bindler.

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M usicals

Testimonials

“The show was an unqualified hit! It sold well and the reviews were amazing.

Audiences were engaged so powerfully every night, and they would gasp or moan audibly as each contestant dropped out. Norma’s loss hit them particularly hard. We all knew this was a great show, but we were surprised by the intensity of the reaction. People in the audience were crying at the end, almost like they too had been throughout this 91-hour ordeal. We realized that, emotionally, they had been. We had a lot of repeat customers during the run and standing ovations every night.”

– Scott Miller, New Line Theatre, St. Louis, MO “Hands on a Hardbody has proven to be one of the best musicals I have ever produced. This musical is life changing and will leave an audience wanting more. Being one of the first to produce this show in the amateur market I can tell you that my audiences STILL ask me if we will do more performances.

They want to see it again and again.” – Studio West Productions, Cumming, GA The cast of Hands on a Hardbody at Brooks Atkinson Theater, 2013 (Chad Batka).

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WE ARE WHO WE ARE A Lovefest with La Cage Aux Folles

by Shawn Churchman a college professor

The Cagelles to the campus of OU brings

I

t never occurred to me, when I took a job at the University of Oklahoma Weitzenhofer School of Musical Theatre seven years ago, that I would find myself walking across campus one cold January evening in full drag. Yet here I was, all 52 years of me, in slimming black and (blessedly) two pair of panty hose – joined by three men comprising my creative team in their own glamorous getups on our way to our first read through of Jerry Herman’s La Cage aux Folles.

We got the response from the students that I was hoping for: gasps of shock and disbelief that

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soon became gales of laughter and vocal approval. The students didn’t realize, however, that I had an ulterior motive beyond shock value, as did the brilliant team behind the original production.

My students were about to get a lesson in the old adage “clothes do not make the man.”

Admittedly, this wasn’t the first time I had tucked for my art.

My love affair with La Cage began in the late ’80s when I played a Cagelle in two different productions: one in a tiny upstate New York summer stock, the other in a major metropolitan area.

And much to my astonishment,

F eatures the audience receptions to both productions were remarkably similar: we were in a lovefest from beginning to end.

But there was certainly no guarantee of that kind of reception in religiously conservative Oklahoma. To be fair, I have been an out gay man working and living with my partner and have not suffered one iota of anti-gay bigotry here. But students are different, not only in the careless or mean remarks they might say, but also in their thinner skins. I hoped that witnessing four middleaged men (52 is the PRIME of middle-age!) unafraid to be seen crossing campus in drag would be a “teachable” moment both for my students and for the universityat-large.

Witnessing the gradual physical transformations of our male students into cross-dressing Cagelles was a joy. This process was smoothed by Lloyd Cracknell, our resident Professor of Costume Design, who had enough rehearsal heels (size 14, thank you!) and drag to outfit an army and by Miss Kitty Bob Aimes, Oklahoma City’s most renowned drag queen, who came to campus for a makeup intensive; nail polish, depilatories, tucking, even bullwhips… all became topics for serious discussion.

But those items are merely the “clothes” I referred to earlier. I was more interested in the traits of character that made the man.

I started by asking the company to name qualities that came to mind when they thought of what it takes to “be a man.”

Bravery, convictions, honesty, and protecting those you loved

were all mentioned. Exploring Mr. Fierstein’s hilarious and slyly subversive La Cage script led to a discovery for my students: the biggest “girl” on the stage, turns out to also be the biggest “man” in the show, at least when measured by those qualities. And who

I hoped that witnessing four middle-aged men unafraid to be seen crossing campus in drag would be a “teachable” moment both for my students and for the university-at-large. wouldn’t want to be associated with, protect, and love such a person, and such a show?

And who wouldn’t want to see such a show? The entire production team, all the way up to the dean, decided to take a particularly aggressive tack to get students and the public in the door. We met with all the campus LGBTQ organizations, the university women’s organization, and the Women’s Outreach Center to promote the show and invite them free of charge to our preview performance. We had nearly 250 people at our preview!

To see this young cast so enthusiastically proclaim “We Are Who We Are,” and embrace the theme of love and family was a profoundly moving experience for me, as it was for the entire production team. The show was a critical smash and was met night after night with standing ovations.

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Now, back to the “teachable moment” I mentioned earlier.

I am proud that we introduced La Cage to our students, and I’m even prouder we introduced it to Norman, Oklahoma. And I was humbled by the appreciative emails from students across the university thanking me. Not a single disparaging remark marred the experience. So you can imagine, then, the dumbfounded shock we all experienced when, on our closing day, a disturbing video surfaced in the national media of OU students in the Greek system leading a disgusting, racist chant. Could this be the same place where we were greeted so enthusiastically?

And yet, a beautiful thing happened on the campus of the University of Oklahoma as a result of that ugliness. The student body, including many cast members of La Cage banded in solidarity against this act, and the president acted swiftly to proclaim that this kind of rhetoric would never be allowed at OU. These two events are connected only by the effect they had on people who were willing to listen to their message. La Cage aux Folles has the power to change hearts and minds, and yet, there is obviously much work to do.

Even so, beyond the “Marabou, Ostrich plumes, Shalimar” on the entertaining surface of La Cage, its message of love and acceptance keep it relevant and, dare I say, important.

This article originally appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, July 2015.

Aaron Umsted and Tanner Rose in the University of Oklahoma’s production of La Cage aux Folles, 2015 (Wendy Mutz).

La Cage Aux Folles

book by HARVEY FIERSTEIN music & lyrics by JERRY HERMAN based on a play by JEAN POIRET

Romantic Comedy | 7m, 3f, flexible casting | 120 minutes | World Premiere 1983 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way

The oft-revived La Cage Aux Folles remains one of the all time biggest hits, adding new dimension to the boulevard comedy. After 20 years of un-wedded bliss Georges and Albin, two men partnered for better-or-worse get a bit of both when Georges’ son (fathered during a one-night fling) announces his impending marriage to the daughter of a bigoted, right-wing politician. Further complicating the situation is the “family business”: Albin and Georges run a drag nightclub in St. Tropez, where Albin is the star performer “Zaza.”

WINNER - 2010 Tony Award, Best Revival of a Musical; 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Revival of a Musical; 2010 Drama Desk Award, Best Revival of a Musical; 2005 Tony Awards, Outstanding Revival of a Musical; 2005 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Revival of a Musical; 2005 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Revival of a Musical; 1984 Tony Awards, Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Book of a Musical; 1984 Outer Critics Circle, Outstanding Musical; 1984 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Music.

“This is Jerry Herman's best musical yet...happier, more assertive, more buoyant than Hello Dolly! or Mame.” – New York Post

Todd McKenney and Les Cagelles in La Cage aux Folles at Playhouse Arts Centre in Melbourne, Australia, 2014 (Jeff Busby).

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M usicals

Falsettos

Grease

Comedy | 3m, 3f, 1b | 120+ minutes | B’way Premiere 1992 Small/Combo Band| Moderate Vocals | Classic Broadway

Comedy | 9m, 8f | 120 minutes | B’way Premiere 1971 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic Pop/Rock

WINNER - 1992 Tony Awards, Best Book and Best Score

“A lively and funny musical as well as the dancingest one in town. It’s a winner!” - New York Daily News One of the world’s most popular musicals. Here is Rydell High’s senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding “Burger Palace Boys” and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking “Pink Ladies” in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical.

Head “greaser” Danny Zuko and new (good) girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to relive the high romance of their “Summer Nights” as the rest of the gang sings and dances its way through such songs as “Greased Lightnin’,” “It’s Raining on Prom Night,” and “Alone at the Drive-In Movie.”

book by W I L L I A M F I N N & J A M E S L A P I N E music & lyrics W I L L I A M F I N N

A seamless pairing of March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, two acclaimed Off-Broadway musicals written nearly a decade apart. It is the tale of Marvin who leaves his wife and young son to live with another man. His ex-wife marries his psychiatrist, and Marvin ends up alone. Two years later, Marvin is reunited with his lover on the eve of his son’s bar mitzvah, just as AIDS is beginning its insidious spread.

Evil Dead: The Musical b o o k & l y r i c s b y G E O R G E R E I N B L AT T music by FRANK CIPOLLA, CHRISTOPHER BOND, MELISSA MORRIS & G E O R G E R E I N B L AT T Comedy | 5m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2006 Small/Combo Band | Easy Vocals | Pop/Rock

“Bloody Hilarious! This devilishly entertaining show [has] never forgotten why it was created: To make people laugh!” - The Toronto Star Based on Sam Raimi’s ’80s cult classic films, five college kids travel to a cabin in the woods and accidentally unleash an evil force. It may sound like a horror but the songs are hilariously campy and the show is bursting with more farce than a Monty Python skit. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, “camp” takes on a whole new meaning with uproarious numbers like “All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons,” “Look Who’s Evil Now,” and “Do the Necronomicon.”

35mm: A Musical Exhibition

book, music & lyrics by JIM JAC OB S & WARREN CASEY

The Tap Dance Kid book by C H A R L E S B L AC K W E L L music by HENRY KRIEGER lyrics by ROBERT LORICK based on a novel by LO U I S E F I T Z H U G H Dramatic Comedy | 5m, 5f | Full Length Musical| B’way Premiere 1983 Large Orchestra

NOMINEE - 1984 Tony Award, Best Musical This long-running Broadway show is a cornucopia of music, drama, comedy and, above all, tap dancing. The story of a ten-year-old African American boy named Willie, who doesn’t want to be a lawyer like his stern father; he wants to dance like his uncle, an aspiring Broadway choreographer.

G e t I n s p i r ed

music & lyrics by R Y A N S C OT T O L I V E R based on photographs by M AT T H E W M U R P H Y Song Cycle | 3m, 2f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2012 Small/Combo, Medium Orchestra | Difficult Vocals Classic Broadway, Pop/Rock, Country/Western

“When theater pundits talk about the future of Broadway and the new generation of composers, they’re talking about artists like Ryan Scott Oliver ... a major new voice in musical theater.” - Entertainment Weekly A picture is worth 1,000 words – what about a song? Can a picture inspire a song or 15 ? In 35mm, each photo creates an unique song, moments frozen in time; a glimmer of a life unfolding, a glimpse of something happening. A stunning new multimedia musical that re-imagines what the modern American musical can be.

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Don’t be weird about it. Step one: get an idea – maybe it comes to you unexpectedly, maybe you hunt for it... Don’t stop till you find it. Step two: make a deadline, and include time for research.

I think three to six months is a good amount of time for research and then six months after that for a first draft. Step three: set regular times to show off your work, first to your friends, then to your enemies. Step four: make the thing, and the day after repeat from step one with a new idea. Lastly, read Story by Robert McKee.

- Ryan Scott Oliver

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas book by L A R R Y L . K I N G & PETER MASTERSON music & lyrics by C A R O L H A L L based on a story by L A R R Y L . K I N G

Comedy | 13m, 14f | 120 minutes | B’way Premiere 1978 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Country/Western

“Utterly charming, lively and genial.”- New York Daily News This happy-go-lucky view of small town vice and statewide political side-stepping recounts the good times and the demise of the Chicken Ranch, known since the 1850s as one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas.

Governors, senators, mayors, and even victorious college football teams frequent Miss Mona’s cozy bordello until that puritan nemesis Watchdog focuses his television cameras and his righteous indignation on the institution.

Dames at Sea

book & lyrics by G E O R G E H A I M S O H N & ROBIN MILLER music by J I M W I S E Comedy | 4m, 3f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1966 Medium Orchestra | Large Vocals | Classic B’way

“A winner! A gem of a musical!” - The New York Times It’s big time New York City, into which sweet little Ruby from faraway Hometown, USA has come to make it big on Broadway. Who should she chance to meet but another boy from Hometown, USA, Dick, a sailor who also has ambitions as a songwriter. Ruby begins in the chorus, and by the end of the day, in true Hollywood fashion, Dick saves her doomed Broadway show with a smash tune, as Ruby becomes a star on the deck of a battleship which just happens to be passing by.

Nine

book by A R T H U R KO P I T music & lyrics by M AU R Y Y E S T O N adapted from the Italian by M A R I O F R AT T I b a s e d o n F E L L I N I ’s 8 1/2 Drama | 1m, 22f, 4b, flexible casting | 120 minutes B’way Premiere 1982 | Large Orchestra | Difficult Vocals | Classic B’way

WINNER - 1982 Tony Award, Best Musical The story of celebrated film director Guido Contini and his attempts to come up with a plot for his next film as he is pursued by hordes of beautiful women, all clamoring to be loved by him and him alone. Flashbacks reveal the substance of his life that will become the material for his next film: a musical version of the Casanova story.

Licensing restrictions may apply to certain titles.

Pump Boys and Dinettes

by J O H N F O L E Y , M A R K H A R DW I C K , DEBRA MONK, CASS MORGAN, JOHN SCHIMMEL & JIM WANN Comedy | 4m, 2f | Full Length Musical | B’way Premiere 1981 Small/Combo Band | Moderate Vocals | Pop/Rock, Country/Western

“Both musically and theatrically, a triumph of ensemble playing.

It doesn’t merely celebrate the value of friendship and life’s simple pleasures, it embodies them.” - The New York Times The ‘Pump Boys’ sell high octane on Highway 57 in Grand Ole Opry country and the ‘Dinettes,’ Prudie and Rhetta Cupp, run the Double Cupp diner next door. Together they fashion an evening of country western songs that received raves on and off Broadway. With heartbreak and hilarity, they perform on guitar, piano, bass and yes, kitchen utensils.

Lust

book, music & lyrics by T H E H E AT H E R B R O T H E R S based on W I L L I A M W Y C H E R L E Y ’s The Country Wife Comedy | 8m, 6f | 105 minutes | World Premiere 1993 Small/Combo Band | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way

“Three words describe Lust: FA... BU... LOUS!” - The Philadelphia Daily News This rollicking Restoration revel throws off the shackles of Puritan austerity in a high-spirited celebration of “the noblest urge bestowed on us”. Ribaldry, romance and drama abound in the hilarious tale of Homer, a notorious London libertine. He charms and seduces his way into the hearts and boudoirs of society ladies, while practicing elaborate deceptions so as to be trusted by the foolish husbands as a eunuch and chaperone to ladies of quality.

Chess

music by BENNY ANDERSSON & B J Ö R N U LV A E U S lyrics by TIM RICE based on an idea by TIM RICE book by RICHARD NELSON Drama | 9m, 2f, 1b, 1g | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1986 Large Orchestra | Difficult Vocals | Pop/Rock, Classic B’way

“This is an angry, difficult, demanding and rewarding show.” - Time The pawns in this drama form a love triangle: the loutish American chess star, the earnest Russian champion and a Hungarian American female assistant who arrives at the international chess match with the American but falls for the Russian. From Bangkok to Budapest the players, lovers, politicians, and spies manipulate and are manipulated to the pulse of a monumental rock score. The game becomes a metaphor for romantic rivalries, competitive gamesmanship, super power politics and international intrigues.

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M usicals

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 by D AV E M A L L OY

Drama | 5m, 5f, chorus, flexible casting 120+ minutes | World Premiere 2012 Medium Orchestra | Difficult Vocals Pop/Rock, Folk, Operetta

An electro-pop opera based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace. Young and impulsive, Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines. When she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, it is up to Pierre, a family friend in the middle of an existential crisis, to pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation.

This award-winning musical expands the possibilities for the genre with its daring score and bold storytelling. This title has restrictions, please contact your Licensing Representative for details.

WINNER - 2013 OBIE Award, Special Citation WINNER - 2013 Off Broadway Alliance, Best New Musical “Critic’s Pick! A vibrant, transporting new musical… Mr. Malloy’s lyrical voice is blunt, funny and forthrightly contemporary…” – The New York Times

“It’s a sensual, wild ride: rollicking music, beautiful singing, a feast for the eye, ear and mouth.” – NY1 “5 Stars (out of 5)....feels like a party from start to end: lively, intelligent and utterly engrossing. The dazzlingly variegated score covers musical terrain from folk songs through rock, R&B and house music and captures their story in stirring and surprising ways. This is a rare and marvelous event, an oasis of artful illumination.” – Time Out New York

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Amber Gray in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, New York, 2013 (Chad Batka).

Kiss of the Spider Woman Fugitive Songs b o o k b y T E R R E N C E M C N A L LY based on a novel by M A N U E L P U I G music by J O H N K A N D E R lyrics by F R E D E B B originally directed by H A R O L D P R I N C E Drama |15m, 3f | Full Length Musical | B’way Premiere 1993 Large Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic Broadway

WINNER - 1993 Tony Awards, Best Book, Best Score and Best Musical A tale of persecution made into a dazzling spectacle that juxtaposes gritty realities with liberating fantasies. Cellmates in a Latin American prison, Valentin is a tough revolutionary undergoing torture and Molina is an unabashed homosexual serving eight years for deviant behavior. Molina shares his fantasies about an actress, Aurora (originated on Broadway

by Chita Rivera) with Valentin. One of her roles is a Spider Woman who kills with a kiss.

Really Rosie book & lyrics MAURIC E SE NDAK music by C A R O L E K I N G TYA Comedy | 4m, 2f, plus chorus | Full Length Musical World Premiere 1978 | Small/Combo Band | Easy Vocals | Classic B’way

“Impressively crafted lyrics.” - The New York Times Rosie, the sassiest kid on her block of Brooklyn’s Avenue P, entertains herself and her friends by acting out show biz fantasies, notably directing and starring in an “Oscarwinning movie.” From Sendak, the author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are and other popular children’s books, and acclaimed singer/songwriter Carole King, Really Rosie is a jewel for children and adults.

Perfect Harmony

music by C H R I S M I L L E R l y r i c s by N AT H A N T Y S E N Song Cycle | 3m, 3f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2008 Small/Combo Band | Difficult Vocals | Pop/Rock, Country, Folk

“A powerful yearning weaves through the tunes...a song cycle tailored to anyone who has ever thought of shucking his job, his mate or his life to start anew.” - Variety An innovative song-cycle journey, conceived as halfmusical/half-hootenanny, spotlights people on the run: a disgruntled Subway sandwich employee, a jilted excheerleader, a pair of Patty Hearst fanatics, and others.

Blending traditional folk music with contemporary pop and gospel, this eclectic score provides material for a wide range of experienced singers and delivers poignant and thoughtful lyrics that capture each character’s “reasons to run.”

Kudzu: A Southern Musical

book, music & lyrics by J AC K H E R R I C K , DOUG MARLETTE & BLAND SIMPSON b a se d o n t he c o m i c st ri p by D O U G M A R L E T T E Comedy | 11m, 3f | Full Length Musical| World Premiere 1998 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals

“A joyous musical score and delicious satire.” - The Boston Globe The story of a boy who comes of age against the changing face of the American South. Like the comic strip from which it is adapted, this musical celebrates the values, humor and original characters still found in disappearing rural America.

Skyscraper

by ANDREW GRO SSO & THE E SSE NTIA LS

book by P E T E R S T O N E lyrics by S A M M Y C A H N music by J A M E S V A N H E U S E N based on Dreamgirl by E L M E R R I C E

Comedy | 5m, 5f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 2010 A cappella | Moderate Vocal Demands | Pop/Rock

Comedy |11m, 5f | 120+ minutes | B’way Premiere 1965 Large Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Jazz

“It’s hard to resist this musical comedy...if you can’t get enough of glee clubs and energetic vocals that soar, Perfect Harmony is the show for you!” - New York Post A musical comedy about the greatest a cappella group in high school history, 18-time national champions, the Acafellas. It’s also about their classmates and female counterpart, perennial runners up, the Ladies in Red. Through song and story, we see these students grapple with the weighty issues of truth, love, and what constitutes appropriate choreography for Nationals. As the story unfolds, we learn not just about the students themselves but also about the true nature of harmony.

NOMINEE - 1966 Tony Award for Best Musical Georgina’s brownstone in New York City is being squashed on all sides by skyscrapers, and builders are angry with her for not wanting to sell her little property. She considers it a historic landmark, and undertakes an “urban prevention” crusade against the construction giants. Two men figure in her life and her dreams: her boutique assistant, a playwright who had a one-night run Off-Broadway and is biding his time for the opening of an avant-garde film festival; and the good-natured architect of one of the skyscrapers, who finds the key to her heart and to all her daydreams.

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The cast of Big Nate at Adventure Theatre MTC in Glen Echo, MD, 2013 (Bruce Douglas).

Big Nate: The Musical book by JASON LOEWITH music by CHRISTOPHER Y lyrics by JASON LOEWITH based on the cartoons &

with LINCOLN PEIRCE OUSTRA & CHRISTOPHER YOUSTRA books by LINCOLN PEIRCE

Musical TYA Comedy | 4m, 3f | 75 minutes | World Premiere 2013 Small/Combo Band | Easy Vocals | Classic B’way, Pop/Rock

“Bursting with energy and fun music, great lyrics and true to life comic strip characters, Big Nate, based on the familiar comic strip, is a rocking fresh bundle of raucous fun.”

– DC Theatre Scene “Big Nate is a delight for all ages. With a great book and score...this is a musical that I can highly recommend for you and your children to enjoy together.” – MD Theatre Guide

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Nate Wright, a detention-riddled sixth grader (and drummer for the greatest garage band in the history of the galaxy, Enslave the Mollusk!), hopes to capture beautiful Jenny’s heart by winning “The Nicholodeon,” the first prize in his school’s Battle of the Bands.

But when Artur and Jenny team up with Nate’s arch-rival Gina to form the sap-pop band Rainbows and Ponies, he’s gotta take his game to an all-star level.

A Tale of Two Cities book, music and lyrics by JILL SANTORIELLO based on the novel by CHARLES DICKENS Musical Drama | 7m, 3f, 1g, 9 ensemble | 120 minutes | B’way Premiere 2007 Large Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way, Operetta

Two men in love with the same woman.

Two cities swept up in revolution. One last chance for a man to redeem his wasted life and change the world. Based on Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, A Tale of Two Cities is a musical that focuses on the love triangle between young beauty Lucie Manette, French aristocrat Charles Darnay, and drunken English cynic Sydney Carton – all caught in the clutches of the bloody French Revolution.

“A Broadway must see! Everything is here to stir the soul – young love, purity, vengeance, villainy, valor – all played out against that historic revolution.” – The Connecticut Post “The return to the era of big blockbusters such as Les Miserables, Phantom, and Miss Saigon.” – The Associated Press

Cast of A Tale of Two Cities: The Musical at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 2008 (Carol Rosegg).

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On the Twentieth Century

Yo, Vikings!

book & lyrics by ADOLPH GREEN & BETTY COMDEN music by CY COLEMAN b a s e d o n p l ay s by BEN HECHT, CHARLES MCARTHUR & BRUCE MILHOLLAND Comedy | 12m, 5f, chorus| 120 minutes | B’way Premiere 1978 Medium Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic Broadway

WINNER - 1978 Tony Awards, Best Book and Best Score Whether performed with elaborate scenery or on a simple scale, this brilliantly comic musical appeals to audiences everywhere. As in the classic original, flamboyant theatrical impresario Oscar Jaffe desperately attempts to persuade glamorous film star (and former amour) Lily Garland to appear in his next production, awhile outwitting rival producers, creditors, and religious nut Letitia Primrose.

And all this before the 20th Century Ltd. reaches NYC!

Anne of Green Gables

book & lyrics by D O N A L D H A R R O N music & lyrics by N O R M A N C A M P B E L L a d d i t i o n a l l y r i c s by M AV O R M O O R E & ELAINE CAMPBELL based on the novel by L . M . M O N T G O M E R Y Comedy | 12m, 17f | 90 minutes | World Premiere 1971 Large Orchestra | Moderate Vocal | Classic Broadway

Awarded the Guinness World Records title for Longest Running Annual Musical Theatre Production!

The classic tale of orphan girl Anne who rises from destitution to happiness in the Prince Edward Island farm country entirely by virtue of her pluck and personality.

Anne’s adventures at Green Gables, the farm owned by her new caretakers, are comical and heartwarming.

book & lyrics by MARCUS STEVENS music by SAM WILLMOTT based on the book by JUDI TH BYRON SC HAC HNER Comedy | 7m, 6f, 1b, flexible casting | Full Length Musical World Premiere 2010 | Piano Only | Moderate Vocals | Classic B’way

FINALIST - 2011 Richard Rodgers Award The mini-saga of ten-year-old Emma, the fiercest Viking in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and her quest for real adventure. Yo, Vikings! combines sweeping melodies, thrilling Viking chants and funky rock‘n’roll with a beautiful, heartfelt story to engage and excite every member of the family.

Get Inspired The hardest thing I’ve had to learn (and I’m still working on it) is to not self-edit as you go. The initial spark of creation is always more interesting and innately theatrical than what comes out if you worry about it being “good.” Write first and write without barriers. You can (and will) always edit later.

- Marcus Stevens

You want to be a playwright. And that’s exactly why you need to take calculus. And travel to distant lands. And volunteer, and pick up an instrument, and kiss somebody you think you might love, and see art installations that you don’t understand, and listen to people talk, even (especially?) when what they’re saying is dead-wrong, and kayak, and grow plants, and get political, and see fashion shows, and learn what you value -- because, in my estimation, the artists who commune most fully with the world are the ones who truly unlock it for all of us.

- Sam Willmott

Nunsense

by DAN GOGGIN

Comedy | 5f | Full Length Musical | World Premiere 1985 Medium Orchestra | Easy Vocals | Classic Broadway

“Highly theatrical and engaging....echoing the vaudevillian brouhaha of the headline making feud.” - Curtain Up The Little Sisters of Hoboken discover that their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, has accidentally poisoned 52 of the sisters, and they are in dire need of funds for the burials. What better way to raise money then to put on a variety show? Featuring star turns, tap and ballet dancing, an audience quiz, and comic surprises, Nunsense has become an international phenomenon with over 5,000 productions worldwide. Also available: Nunsense A-Men! and Nunsense: The Mega-Musical Version.

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THE WRITING PROCESS Does He Have To Pull Out A Magnum In The Lunchroom? or

by KEVIN MURPHY

Turning a dark comedy from the ’90s into a musical for today

“Although it is expertly done, can you draw sweet water from a foul well?”

- Brooks Atkinson, reviewing the original 1940 production of Pal Joey.

O

ne of the useful things about being a working television writer is that studios pay you enough money to subsidize either a medium-sized cocaine habit or a black box Equity Waiver theater stage musical every ten years or so. Andy Fickman and I had gone down the latter path producing Reefer Madness in the late ’90s, so by 2006 we were about due for the next production, Heathers, which we figured would be easier on our nasal passages than the alternative.

Securing the underlying rights took the better part of a year. Securing the services of the obscenely

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talented Larry O’Keefe took another few months. I have to confess, I was spooked when Larry initially failed to display the same enthusiasm for adapting Heathers that I felt. Maybe he was right. That Brooks Atkinson quote (above) nagged at me. After all, the source material is famous and beloved for the dissociative, nihilistic manner in which the characters deny human emotion. “Chaos is what killed the dinosaurs, darling!” “I say we grow up, be adults and die.” “Whether or not to kill yourself is one of the most important decisions a teenager can make.” Cool ironic detachment is certain death in a medium in which characters feel emotions so deeply and intensely that they can only be expressed in song. What if the world of Heathers was too emotionally arid to be adapted into

F eatures a watchable musical entertainment?

I had to find out.

I decided to start with a character song for J.D., as he was the character that scared me the most.

He scared me because he’s a psychopath. He scared me because he brings a magnum to school and straps a big-ass bomb to his chest. He scared me because he’s a serial killer and proud of it. But mostly, he scared me because I didn’t understand him. In the original film, J.D. is unknowable, enigmatic and distant. His backstory is hinted at in the screenplay, we’re given tantalizing glimpses into his twisted co-dependency with Big Bud Dean, but aside from the pivotal story of his mother’s death, the movie audience is largely left to fill in the blanks for themselves, ably assisted by the megawatt movie star charisma of Christian Slater. Unfortunately, our stage musical wouldn’t have the benefit of a lingering close-up on his face. Movie stars have mystique – they engage the audience by withholding. No matter how fantastic a young actor we found to play J.D., he would always be on a stage, at least 20 feet away from the nearest audience member. It all had to be there in the music and the text.

I reasoned that if I could successfully get inside J.D.’s head and create an engaging characterdefining soliloquy for him, then the rest of the show would be a piece of cake (it wasn’t, but these are the lies writers tell themselves early in the creative process). I started by asking myself what J.D. wants. He wants to be left alone. He wants to stay disconnected and detached.

He recoils from any sort of human connection. Trouble was, these

are all negative, unattractive ideas and the plot dictated that J.D. had to seduce Veronica with this song. I knew that by the end of act one Veronica (and the audience) would see this character for what he truly is: an unrepentant multiplemurderer. If we didn’t make Veronica (and the audience) fall in love with him early on, the entire undertaking was doomed. But how do you make misanthropic isolation sexy?

Cool ironic detachment is certain death in a medium in which characters feel emotions so deeply and intensely that they can only be expressed in song.

Stumped, I watched the movie again. An idea in it resonated with me in a new way – J.D. was an itinerant kid, dragged from town to town by his father’s dodgy, probably illegal work. J.D. had no friends. No roots. The only consistent part of his life was the 7-11 convenience store (changed to Snappy Snack Shack for the finished film, but 7-11 in Dan’s original screenplay). No matter what city, every single 7-11 was exactly the same with the exact same microwave burritos and Slurpees. J.D.’s character statement song would be a romantic tribute to the reassuring symmetry of 7-11 shops everywhere. The Slurpee would be J.D.’s drug of choice and he would revel in the brief, painful oblivion of the signature ice cream headache you get from slurping it too quickly.

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Everything tumbled together after that and the lyrics only improved once Larry came aboard (finally!) and started contributing new ideas. J.D. became an articulate, insightful huckster who is instantly attracted to our wickedly smart, selfloathing heroine. He instinctively understands that a big-hearted girl like Veronica will be a sucker for a hard luck story delivered with wit, charm and a frosty carbonated beverage. And once Larry set the lyric to music, I realized something important. I really, really liked this J.D. kid. I liked his fierce intelligence, his kill-or-be-killed survivor skill set and I felt genuine empathy for how shitty his life had been since his mom died. And I especially liked him because he appreciated the specialness of our leading lady. No matter what bad choices this guy makes, his love for Veronica remains unwavering and pure. I suppose there’s a sort of Travis Bickle rule that applies here: We forgive a psycho killer who is doing it all for love.

That was going to be the key to adapting Heathers. We had to find ways to like everybody. Even though pretty much every character in the story is cruel, selfish, angry, and/or deluded. We had to find ways to transform negative into positive.

How hard could that be?

Excerpted from an article originally appearing in Breaking Character Magazine, May 2015.

Barrett Wilbert Weed, Ryan McCartan, and Charissa Hogeland in Heathers: The Musical, 2014.

(Chad Batka).

Heathers The Musical

book, music, & lyrics by KEVIN MURPHY & LAURENCE O’KEEFE based on the film written by D A N I E L W AT E R S Dark Comedy | 8m, 9f, flexible casting | 120 minutes World Premiere 2014 | Medium Orchestra | Difficult Vocals | Pop/Rock

The darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerberg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously sexy new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather’s aerobicized ass…but J.D. has another plan for that bullet. A hilarious, heartfelt, and homicidal new show based on the greatest teen comedy of all time. Are you in, or are you out?

“A rowdy guilty pleasure!” – The New York Times “Ingenious, naughty and very funny. Heathers still cliques.” – New York Post

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“Cue the corn nuts – and much-deserved applause.

HOW VERY!” – NY Daily News

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Get Inspired I like to eat dessert first, which means I don’t write sequentially. I will usually focus in on the one or two scenes (or songs) that first made me want to work on this particular project, the moments in which I have the most confidence. An early success or two helps me build confidence and provides momentum to launch me into tackling the more challenging scenes.

- Kevin M urphy

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Elle McLemore, Jessica Keenan Wynn, and Alice Lee in Heathers: The Musical at New World Stages, 2014 (Chad Batka).

Cast of The Secret Garden at Court Theater in Chicago, 2015 (Michael Brosilow).

The Secret Garden

book & lyrics by MARSHA NORMAN music by LUCY SIMON adapted from the novel by FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT Drama | 12m, 10f, 1b, 1g | 120 minutes | World Premiere 1991 Large Orchestra | Moderate Vocals | Classic B'way

A stunning musical that brings to life the haunting beauty of this beloved literary classic. Orphaned in India, 11-year-old Mary Lennox is sent to a Yorkshire manor to live with relatives she’s never met. Left to her own devices, Mary’s personality blossoms as she and a young gardener restore a neglected garden – bringing new life to the manor, and ultimately healing her sickly cousin and uncle.

Evocative music dramatizes The Secret Garden’s compelling tale of forgiveness and renewal.

WINNER - 1991 Tony Award, Best Book “Elegant, entrancing... The best American musical of the Broadway season.” – Time “A splendid, intelligent musical... It’s all you can hope for in children’s theatre. But the best surprise is that this show is the most adult new musical of the season.” – USA Today “A many-splendored children’s fable that neither cloys or loses grip on its unique spell.”

– Newsday

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M usicals

Samuel French Vocal Selections Samuel French is proud to be the first theatrical publishing and licensing company to offer sheet music and vocal selection books for our titles.

Vocal Selections Fun Home Songs include: It All Comes Back (Opening), Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue, Come to the Fun Home, Changing My Major, Maps, Raincoat of Love, Ring of Keys, Days and Days, Telephone Wire, Edges of the World, Flying Away, Pony Girl

Hands on a Hardbody Songs include: Human Drama Kind of Thing, If I Had This Truck, If She Don’t Sleep, My Problem Right There, Alone With Me, Burn That Bridge, I’m Gone, Joy of the Lord, Stronger, Hunt with the Big Dogs, Hands on a Hardbody, Born in Laredo, It’s a Fix, Used to Be, God Answered My Prayers, Keep Your Hands On It, The Tryers

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

OGUE E NE ELSE SHA LOST MING ALL ERS A & NATASHA A ALONE GA Y LOVERS E & NATASHA GREAT COMET OF 1812

Songs include: Prologue, Pierre, No One Else, Natasha Lost, Charming, The Ball, Letters, Sonya & Natasha, Sonya Alone, Balaga, Gypsy Lovers, Pierre & Natasha, The Great Comet of 1812

| “A heaven-sent fireball.”

-Ben Brantley

5/20/15 4:37 PM

35mm: A Musical Exhibition Songs include: Caralee, Crazytown, Cut You a Piece, Hemming & Hawing, Leave Luanne, Make Me Happy, Mama Let Me In, On Monday, The Ballad Of Sara Berry, The Party Goes With You, The Seraph, Twisted Teeth, Why Must We Tell Them Why?

Coming Soon: Heathers

The Musical

Sheet Music Digital sheet music is available on the Samuel French website, for immediate download to your computer.

Fun Home Changing My Major Come to the Fun Home Days and Days Flying Away Maps

Pony Girl Raincoat of Love Ring of Keys Telephone Wire Welcome to Our House On Maple Avenue

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THIS AIN’T NO QUICK CHANGE Finding New Forms of Musical Theatre

by BRANDON HULDEEN

NAMT’s New Works Director has some thoughts about what inspires today’s musical theatre writers, what’s changing with the form, and what hasn’t changed in over 2,500 years.

In September 2015, Samuel French presented #MusicalsWeek: Protecting, Developing & Celebrating Musical Theatre. The week included panels comprised of industry professionals who discussed topics such as diversity in musical theatre and the new form of musicals.

Articles exploring the topics of the week were featured on Breaking Character. And closing the week was Samuel French’s first concert at 54 Below, Sing & Tell: A Benefit Concert for Dramatists Guild Fund, which featured the work of several Samuel French composers and lyricists.

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T

heatre is always in flux because our world is always in flux and theatre is just an expression of the culture or reflection, if you want to go cliché about theatre holding up a mirror to society, but then I get fixated on why doesn’t theatre spell all words backwards and show the sun setting in the east like when you take a selfie with an iPhone.

But while theatre is always fluidly changing, albeit slowly, much about it stays the same and some of our most traditional forms of theatre are still enjoyed the world over. If this weren’t true, we would have tossed Shakespeare to the curb next to Pseudodilotitus many centuries ago.

The heart of what makes theatre has not changed, and I would go

F eatures as far to say can never change: You need to have at least one performer, a story or idea, and an audience member (preferably more than one). You can take away the lights, set, costumes, and even the producer, but you’ve got to have those three and after that you can dress it up however you want, even if it is garish and unnecessary.

Heck, you can even take away the traditional concept of a stage and still get great theatre. Just don’t break the fourth wall and have actors start to interact with me – I have my limits, and a grown man dressed as cat trying to climb on my lap is well past them.

We are telling new stories on stage all of the time. My specialty is new musicals, and I can tell you that I have a database filled with new stories. What is changing – and I would dare say evolving – are the stories that we tell and the new forms we use to tell them. Just take a look at what is on Broadway (because it is the most widely known and most easily googled for all) right now: We have an in-the-round production of a non-fiction musical about a lesbian coming to terms with her closeted father’s suicide in relation to her own sexual awakening based on a graphic novel. Oh, and it is a critical and box office success!

There is a multi-racial hip-hop/rap/ rock musical about the life and death of Alexander Hamilton, written by a man who grew up in the heights, told on a traditional Broadway stage but that uses that stage and the traditional idea of a Broadway musical to blow it all wide open. Oh, and it is also critical and box office success!

Both are stellar examples of new forms of musical theatre, but neither are pendulum swings away from what theatre is. They both use what has come before as a foundation to make something new, and both

You have contemporary writers in the theatre who grew up influenced not only by theatre but by the music of Ben Folds, the cinematic sweep of a great Spielberg film and the comedy of 30 Rock. teams know theatre very well. In my experience, when a writer or writing team with little-to-no experience in theatre set out to create a whole new form, redefine what theatre is and can be, to shatter expectations and a bunch of other grand statements…it tends not to work.

Because I do not believe you can just decide to make great theatre without knowing what great theatre is. I could rattle off the crack-pot, ill-advised, naïve shows I have seen and read by people who wanted to write “the anti-musical musical” but who did not know enough about theatre to know what they were trying not to do.

So what is bringing the best new forms and changes to theatre? The work is slowly starting to reflect life and culture more accurately and respectfully. Theatre is becoming more diverse, and while it is by no means as diverse as society currently is, it is slowly getting better. Just look at my examples

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above and those shows would likely not have happened 20 years ago.

You also have contemporary writers in the theatre who grew up influenced not only by theatre but by the music of Ben Folds, the cinematic sweep of a great Spielberg film and the comedy of 30 Rock.

Because our culture diversified, theatre had to diversify or it would not be true to who we are as people living in 2015. Unfortunately, theatre is slow to change on a macro scale.

I always refer to our industry as a gigantic ocean liner: if you want to avoid that iceberg, you need to start turning the wheel many months or years in advance.

If we want to keep changing the art form and moving things forward, what is next? Some amazing things and some terrible things to be certain, because the same is true for our culture. But if theatre wants to really do something crazy, it will catch-up to the culture of today and continue working toward being an expression of who we are now and who we strive to be. Many of us would love for the boat to turn faster, but know the boat is turning continually to avoid the iceberg. It may seem at times like we are stuck on the same old course, but if you zoom out a bit, you can see that there are great new hopes – and a couple icebergs – on the horizon.

This article originally appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, September 2015.

For more articles, photos, and video from #MusicalsWeek, visit breakingcharactermagazine.com.

The cast of Fun Home at Circle in the Square, 2015 (Joan Marcus).

PLAYS IN YOUR POCKET: Introducing Abbott Reader

Samuel French is advancing our industry with new products. But what exactly are the products we’re creating? Today, we’re giving you a highlight of our newest release. Read below as Courtney Kochuba, Breaking Character Magazine Editor, chats with Christian Amato, Samuel French’s Digital Products Coordinator, about Abbott, ePlays, and more.

So here we are, our first digital products talk! And I have to say, we’re all pretty thrilled to be chatting about Abbott, our newest digital product.

Christian Amato: You know how excited I am about launching Abbott!

So I’m really happy to get a chance to chat about it with you. We’ve tried to keep quiet for so long, it feels good to start letting folks “peek under the tent.”

Oh, absolutely. So, let’s start off simple. How would you describe Abbott in one sentence?

Abbott is Samuel French’s new digital ePlay platform, providing play lovers with access to a world of plays at your fingertips. …which sounds amazing. So

now, feel free to expand the description a bit. How do people log in, what do they have access to, and so on.

Abbott is our new portal to instantly access all the ePlays in Samuel French’s catalog. By using your samuelfrench.com login, you can read over 1,200 plays and counting! Sounds cool already, right?

Yeah, I’m actually pausing this interview for a second to download the app. ....

Okay, downloaded. So, is it just for reading scripts? Or can you use it if you’re looking to choose a play for your season?

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In Abbott, you can read free previews of all the plays on the platform. I think that this will be really beneficial to anyone who is looking to peruse plays. Whether you’re looking to find a play just to read, or you’re planning for an upcoming season or production, this will be the perfect way to start browsing through our digital bookshelves.

Abbott also has subscription levels, so you can choose how many plays you want to read in a month for instant access to the entire script. Even if you choose not to have a subscription, you can still purchase individual ePlays and store them in Abbott. You may rent a play to read for a class or audition.

Maybe it becomes one of your favorite plays, or you get cast in a production, you can easily purchase it later for permanent access. Abbott works on

F eatures phones, tablets and online – so you can read plays wherever you go!

That’s pretty terrific. What are some of the app’s best features?

Great question! I think Abbott will stand alone as a great feature for the theatre community, because it’s the first and only digital play reader. But there are some cool tools we’ve developed that make it really versatile. Abbott allows you to build digital bookshelves like “What You’re Reading” or “Your Favorites,” and these are also saved for you on samuelfrench.com, so you can continue to learn about the plays on our website. We also knew that theatremakers had specific ways they interacted with scripts. So in Abbott, you can take notes right in the text, add highlighting, and bookmark sections of the play to make it really easy to find them. There are cool social features as well, which I feel will make Abbott Readers come together and share the plays they read. I love that Abbott Reader is a verb, not only are you using Abbott Reader but you are an Abbott Reader, and that sense of community is a feature in itself.

And I should throw in here, we’re marketing it as #AbbottReader, right?

Absolutely! Find us on Twitter and Instagram.

Okay, so sometimes it can be overwhelming to find the type of plays or musicals that you want.

How can readers find the types of titles they want on Abbott?

I think this is important, mostly, because the way people search is based on so many variables. Your device, age, or intention really dictates how someone may want to search.

Based on this, we felt it was important to have a few different ways to navigate in Abbott. Of course, there is a search bar, to type in what you are looking for. However some people may want

to scroll through every play in Abbott, and for that, we developed a really awesome browse feature. You can even sort by category. We also have great editorial content on the main page of Abbott, like “Staff Picks,” “Artist Spotlights,” and carousels that deliver curated selections of plays that will rotate as we continue to add titles into the mix.

We’re launching Abbott with over 1,200 plays and will be adding around 50 more every month Is the entire Samuel French catalogue listed there?

We’re launching Abbott with over 1,200 plays and will be adding around 50 more every month. It isn’t our entire catalog, but it is a really large amount of plays and musicals. There is a “What’s New” feature on the platform that will reflect all the new titles that are added in Abbott.

Let’s talk prices. The app is free to download, but what about subscribing to the service?

Subscriptions range from $9.95 to $29.95, depending on how many plays you may want to read monthly. But, if you want to read one play at a time, you do not need a subscription, you can purchase ePlays one-by-one.

Seriously not bad for a whole library of scripts. Now, tell us a bit of insider knowledge. What’s your favorite feature of Abbott?

The accessibility. Now, everyone can have access to tons of plays under one roof. Not everyone has the opportunity to go to The Drama Bookshop, and buying a script online still means you have to wait for it to be delivered. The fact that there is a way to carry all these plays in your pocket will be a great

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way to expose more people to more plays.

Now, one more thing. You’ve already had a beta audience for Abbott, right?

As Abbott became more of a tangible product, we felt it was really important to start getting it into the hands of people who we felt would utilize the platform. This was a big deal, because you see startups take advantage of beta testing, but this is not typical in theatre.

Our Test Community was comprised of readers, producers, actors, teachers, and many other people who love plays. They have been such a great resource for us, providing amazing feedback and encouragement. A lot of the suggestions they gave have helped shape the way Abbott has grown in the last few months, and some suggestions will appear down the line as we continue to improve the platform.

The more I think about it, we could probably consider previews or workshop productions as beta tests in theatre! Now that we are launching in Public Beta, I consider this to be like a preview. As users join Abbott, they’re encouraged to provide feedback and continue to perfect what we’ve created.

To wrap up, where can people get Abbott? And, this is pretty important, can both Droid and Apple folks use it on any of their devices?

To get Abbott, simply visit AbbottReader.com! Abbott works on Apple and Android phones as well as tablets and you can also access it for online reading on your laptop or desktop.

This article originally appeared in Breaking Character Magazine, October 2015.

Samuel French’s Digital Products Coordinator Christian Amato.

LICENSING Ready to license a show? Head to the product page of any play or musical on samuelfrench.com and begin the process by clicking the “Request License” button. You can search for specific titles’ product pages by using the search bar at the top of the homepage.

We’ll do our best to respond to requests within 24 to 48 hours. Newer titles and popular titles may take longer as we work directly with authors and their agents to arrange these licenses. We recommend applying for rights at least four weeks in advance of your pre-production process or any internal deadlines you have for your production.

If you have any questions along the way, our licensing team is available via phone, email, and live chat from 9am to 9pm EST, Monday - Friday and 1pm to 8pm EST, Saturday - Sunday.

BREAKING CHARACTER MAGAZINE

Our online theatre magazine provides the latest industry news, engaging content, and best resources for theatremakers across the nation. The articles included in the journal were all originally featured on Breaking Character Magazine. Find more happenings by visiting breakingcharactermagazine.com.

ABBOTT Abbott is Samuel French’s new platform for play reading. Through Abbott, you can explore the largest digital collection of plays and musicals in the world on your mobile device, tablet or computer…anytime, anywhere. Whether reading for fun, for school, or for the stage – Abbott puts the world’s best scripts at your fingertips. Visit samuelfrench.com/abbott.

PERFORMANCE TOOLS Samuel French provides tools and materials that will make putting on your next show a breeze. We have perusal scripts and scores to help you find the right production, accompaniment tracks and custom transposition services to make your musicals just right, logos and video promotions to enhance your marketing efforts, and more. Our Performance Tools can help you at every step of your production from page to stage. Discover more tools at samuelfrench.com.

VISIT OUR BOOKSTORES

If you’re in the London or Los Angeles areas visit the Samuel French bookstores. The Samuel French Film & Theatre Bookshop (7623 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA) has served the industry for over 65 years. French’s Theatre Bookshop (52 Fitzroy Street, London, UK) has been in continuous operation since the 1830s. Both shops featured a wide range of plays and musicals, theatre books, and gifts.

LOOKING FOR MORE? More than 10,000 individual titles ready for licensing are available at samuelfrench.com.

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CONTACT US SAMUELFRENCH.COM

Explore our catalog 24/7 on the industry’s leading website for plays and musicals.

1-866-598-8449

Mon - Fri 9am to 9pm EST, Sat - Sun 1pm to 8pm EST.

E-MAIL US

General Inquiries: info@samuelfrench.com Amateur/Non‑Professional Licensing Inquiries: amateur@samuelfrench.com Amateur/Non-Professional Musical Licensing Inquiries: musicals@samuelfrench.com Professional Licensing Inquiries: professional@samuelfrench.com

NEW YORK 235 Park Avenue South 5th Floor New York, NY 10003 Phone: 1-866-598-8449 Fax: 212-206-1429

LOS ANGELES

LONDON

52 Fitzroy Street London W1T 5JR United Kingdom Phone: 00 44 20 7387 9373 Fax: 00 44 20 7387 2161

7623 Sunset Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90046 Phone: 1-866-598-8449 Fax: 212-206-1429

SOCIAL Facebook.com/SamuelFrenchInc

Twitter.com/MrSamuelFrench

Instagram.com/SamuelFrenchNYC

Youtube.com/user/SamuelFrenchInc

Pinterest.com/SamuelFrenchNYC

+SamuelFrenchNYC

STAFF Nate Collins President Bruce Lazarus Executive Director Accounting Charles Graytok Treasurer, Director of Finance and Accounting Nehal Kumar Senior Accounting Associate Andy Lian Accounts Payable Jonah Rosen Royalty Administration Kevin Peterson Accounts Receivable Joann Mannello Order Administrator Henry Sedeno Accounting Associate Business Affairs Lori Thimsen Director of Licensing Compliance Caitlin Bartow Business Affairs Supervisor Ryan McLeod Business Affairs Associate

Corporate Communications Abbie Van Nostrand Director of Corporate Communications Customer Service and Licensing David Kimple Licensing Manager Sarah Weber Amateur Licensing Supervisor Carly Erickson Licensing Administrator Matthew Akers Licensing Representative Jennifer Carter Licensing Representative Nicholas Dawson Licensing Representative Julia Izumi Licensing Representative Andrew Rincón Licensing Representative Rebecca Schlossberg Licensing Representative Ryan Haddad Licensing Representative Nikki Przasnyski Licensing Representative Kate Karczewkski Licensing Representative Hilary Asare Customer Service Representative

Literary and Editorial Amy Rose Marsh Literary Director Ben Coleman Literary Supervisor Garrett Anderson Literary Associate Marketing Ryan Pointer Marketing Director Christian Amato Digital Products Manager Courtney Kochuba Marketing Associate Chris Kam Marketing Associate Coryn Carson Marketing Associate Operations Casey McLain Operations Manager Tyler Mullen Systems Manager Elizabeth Minski Office Coordinator, Reception Alejandra Venancio Office Coordinator, Reception

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Publications David Geer Publications Manager Emily Sorensen Publications Associate Zachary Orts Music Supervisor John Atorino Music and Production Assistant Samuel French Bookshop (Los Angeles) Joyce Mehess Bookstore Manager Cory DeLair Book Buyer Kristen Springer Bookstore Order Dept. Manager Tim Coultas Bookstore Associate Brittny Roberts Bookstore Associate Adam Steinbrenner Bookstore Associate Alfred Contreras Shipping Manager

Index

of

Titles

10 Out of 12 – 6

Christmas Carol, A – 23

Fun Home – 66-67, 97

27 Rue de Fleurus

City of Conversation, The – 12

Funnyhouse of a Negro – 32

Cloud 9 – 22

Geek! – 29

35mm: A Musical Exhibition – 85, 97

Clown Bar – 42

Gem of the Ocean, August Wilson’s – 49

3C – 6

Coastal Disturbances – 35

General from America, The – 13

45 Seconds from Broadway – 18

Consultant, The – 23

Geniuses – 49

Adrift in Macao – 77

Cowboy Versus Samurai – 30

Gig, The – 76

Acting: The First Six Lessons – 23

(curious case of the)

Gnit – 37

(My Life with Gertrude) – 74

Adding Machine: A Musical – 74

Watson Intelligence, The – 21

Go Back for Murder – 24

Adult Entertainment – 33

Dames at Sea – 86

God Game, The – 42

Advise and Consent – 30

Dani Girl – 78

God's Ear – 22

Afterlife – 38

Death Takes A Holiday – 78

Golden Boy – 69

Alice in Concert - 79

Defiled – 51

Grand Concourse – 50

All Hail Hurricane Gordo – 28

Destiny of Me, The – 46

Grease - 85

All This Intimacy – 56

Detroit '67 – 10

Great Wilderness, A – 10

American Hwangap – 56

Diary of Lights: New York

Grounded – 38

And Then There Were None – 24

About 1955 – 32

Gulf, The – 48

Anne of Green Gables – 91

Disassembly – 23

Haggadah, The - 79

Any Given Day – 15

Dog Opera – 23

Hands on a Hardbody – 80-81, 97

Appointment with Death – 24, 26-27

Doonesbury - 79

Happy New Year – 69

Awesome 80s Prom, The – 35

Doris to Darlene – 44

Happy Ones, The – 10

Baby Screams Miracle – 43

Drunken City, The – 28

Hatmaker's Wife, The – 46

Back Back Back – 13

Dusty and the Big Bad World – 49

Heathers The Musical – 92-93, 94-95

Bad Jews – 33

Edith Can Shoot Things

Herd, The – 62

Barrymore – 43

And Hit Them – 56

Hollow, The – 24, 26-27

Baskerville: A Sherlock

Election Day – 13

Holy Terror, The – 33

Holmes Mystery, Ken Ludwig’s - 8-9

End of the Day, The – 20

Huck & Holden – 52

Be My Baby, Ken Ludwig’s – 18

Everything You Touch – 6

Hurlyburly - 43

BecauseHeCan – 49

Evelyn Shaffer and the

Husbandry – 43

Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The – 86

Chance of a Lifetime – 48

If Memory Serves – 42

Evil Dead: The Musical – 85

In Love and Warcraft – 57

Better Late – 34

et·y·mol·o·gy - 48

In the Boom Boom Room - 43

Big Meal, The – 11

Eyes of the American – 52

Informed Consent - 6

Big Nate: The Musical – 89

Fairy Tale Lives

Iowa – 7

Bike America – 56

of Russian Girls, The – 10

Jacuzzi – 13

Black Coffee – 24, 26-27

Fall of Heaven, The – 42

Jewish Girlz - 79

Blind – 48

Falsettos – 85

Jewtopia – 59

Blood Brothers – 78

Far From the Madding Crowd – 35

Jitney, August Wilson’s – 59

Blood Play – 34

Father Comes Home From the

John - 7

Bootycandy – 44

Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) – 16-17

John, who’s here from Cambridge - 48

Borstal Boy – 11

Feminine Ending, A – 20

Judas Kiss, The – 11

brownsville song

Few, The – 38

Keep Your Pantheon – 59

Fiction – 62

Kindness – 11

Calendar Girls – 62

Film Chinois – 57

Kiss of the Spider Woman – 88

Cannibal! The Musical

Final Toast, The – 18

Kudzu: A Southern Musical – 88

Flick, The – 53

La Cage Aux Folles – 82-83, 84

Captain's Tiger, The – 21

Flora, The Red Menace – 76

Last Dance – 29

Chasing Manet – 33

Fly By Night – 68

Late, A Cowboy Song – 63

Chess – 86

Four of Us, The – 31

Leader of the Pack:

Chicago – 69

From Up Here – 21

Ching Chong Chinaman – 56

Fugitive Songs – 88

(b-side for tray) – 47

Trey Parker’s – 76

The Ellie Greenwich Musical – 76

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Leveling Up – 52

R esources Lifetime Burning, A – 59

Oohrah! – 42

Smile – 69

Logic, The - 48

Open House, The – 37

Some Explicit Polaroids - 60

Love and Information – 22

Out of the City – 22

Somebody/Nobody – 22

Love from a Stranger – 25

Painted Rocks at

Sonic Life of a Giant Tortoise, The – 57

Luce – 57

Revolver Creek, The – 38

Sorrows of Stephen – 33

Lust – 86

Parents’ Evening - 20

Spider's Web – 25, 26-27

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,

Passion Play – 63

Spofford – 44

People vs. Mona, The – 74

Spoils of War – 44

Perfect Harmony – 88

Stage Kiss – 63

Piano Lesson,

Stunning – 46

August Wilson’s – 15 Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The – 13 Mandate - 48

August Wilson’s The – 29

Subject Was Roses, The - 15

Marie Antoinette – 58

Pocatello – 18

Sugar Witch, The – 51

Masked – 46

Pool (No Water) - 60

Sunset Baby – 52

Melancholy Play:

Poor Richard – 62

Sweet Smell of Success – 78

Precious Sons – 35

Table Settings – 20

Middletown – 37

Product- 60

Taisetsu Na Hito - 48

Milk Like Sugar – 21

Pump Boys And Dinettes – 86

Tale of Two Cities, A – 90

Milliner, The – 35

Quality of Life, The – 29

Tall Girls, The – 42

Mom, How Did You

Radiant, The – 29

Tap Dance Kid, The – 85

Radical Mystique, The – 23

Thunder Above, Deeps Below – 51

Most Deserving, The – 20

Realistic Joneses, The – 37

Throws of Love – 48

Mousetrap, The – 25, 26-27

Really Rosie – 88

Title and Deed – 37

Mr. Bundy – 35

Red Sneaks, The - 79

Torch Song Trilogy - 61

Mr. Burns, a post-electric play – 49

Red Velvet – 39, 40-41

Tribute Artist, The - 45

Murder is Announced, A – 25

Rest – 62

Two Thousand Years – 34

Murder on the Nile – 25, 26-27

Return to the Forbidden Planet – 78

Ugly Lies the Bone – 7

My First Time – 18

ReWrite: A Musical Comedy

Unexpected Guest, The – 25, 26-27

a chamber musical – 64-65, 69

Meet The Beatles? – 32

My Old Lady – 30

Triple Threat – 74

Vengeance Can Wait – 57

My Wonderful Day – 44

Rock of Ages – 70-71, 72-73

Verdict – 25

Mystery of Love and Sex, The – 19

Romance Language – 52

Vertical Hour, The – 52

Naomi Court – 28

Rose – 30

Very Rich Woman, A – 21

Narrators – 48

Rose's Dilemma – 15

Victoria Martin:

Natasha, Pierre & The Great

Rule of Three – 25

Comet of 1812 – 87, 97

Math Team Queen – 51

Runaways - 79

View from 151st Street, A – 34

Nether, The – 14

Ruthless! – 76

Village Bike, The – 28

New Brain, A – 76

Samsara – 33

Wake for David’s

New York Rock – 69

Se Llama Cristina – 7

Night Hank Williams Died, The – 28

Seabird is in a Happy Place – 48

Waverly Gallery, The – 10

Nine – 86

Secret Garden, The – 96

Weekend Near Madison, A – 13

No Foreigners Beyond

See Rock City

Whale, The – 30

This Point – 62

and Other Destinations – 74

Fucked-Up Face, A - 48

What They Have – 49

Nunsense – 91

Seminar – 11

Whipping Man, The – 51

Nymph Errant – 74

Shakespeare for My Father – 20

White Chocolate – 38

Oblivion – 46

She Kills Monsters – 57

Wilder’s Classic One Acts – 30

Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching

She Talks to Beethoven – 32

Witness for the

Towards the Somme – 46 Occupant, Edward Albee’s – 28 Ohio State Murders – 32

Shopping and Fucking - 60 Shrinking Violets & Towering Tiger Lilies – 15

Prosecution – 25, 26-27 Wiz, The – 75 Wonderful Tennessee – 59

Old Money – 38

Side Show – 78

Writer's Block – 11

Old Neighborhood, The – 21

Significant Other - 7

Year Zero – 57

On the Twentieth Century – 91

Sixteen Wounded – 51

Yo, Vikings! – 91

One Shoe Off – 59

Skyscraper – 88

You Got Older – 10

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Index

of

Authors

Adams, Lee - 69 Adjmi, David - 6, 46, 58 Albee, Edward - 28 Alexander, Brad - 74 Allen, Woody - 11 Almond, Todd - 7, 64-65, 69 Anastasio, Trey - 80-81 Anderson, Jane - 28 Andersson, Benny - 86 Arbery, Will - 48

Congdon, Constance, 23 Connolly, Will - 68 Cram, Cusi - 49, 59 D'Arienzo, Chris - 70-71, 72-73 Davenport, Ken - 18, 35 Davies, Andrew - 30 Debate Society, The - 13, 34 Dietz, Steven - 62 Dimond, Christopher - 78 Doran, Bathsheba - 19, 20

Hall, Carol - 86 Hamilton, William - 38 Hamlisch, Marvin - 69, 78 Hardwick, Mary - 86 Hare, David - 11, 52 Harmon, Joshua - 7, 33 Harrison, Jordan - 44 Harron, Donald - 91 Hatsor, Ilan - 46 Heather Brothers, The - 86

Ashman, Howard - 69 Ayckbourn, Alan - 44 Ayvazian, Leslie - 22 Baitz, Jon Robin - 20 Baker, Annie - 7, 53 Barlow, Patrick - 23 Barron, Clare - 10, 43 Beatts, Anne - 76 Behan, Brendan - 11 Blackwell, Charles - 85 Bock, Adam - 28 Bond, Christopher - 85 Bos, Hannah -13, 34 Bradbeer, Suzanne - 42 Bragen, Andy - 57 Brant, George - 38 Bridges, Beau - 23 Bridges, Emily - 23 Brown, William F. - 75 Brunstetter, Bekah - 42 Busch, Charles - 45 Butler, Oliver - 13, 34 Cahn, Sammy - 88 Callaghan, Sheila - 6 Campbell, Elaine - 91 Campbell, Norman - 91 Carlton, Bob - 78 Carnelia, Craig - 78 Casey, Warren - 85 Cefaly, Audrey - 48 Chakrabarti, Lolita - 39, 40-41 Christie, Agatha - 24-25, 26-27 Chua, Damon - 54-55, 57 Churchill, Caryl - 22 Cipolla, Frank - 85 Cohen, Douglas J. - 76 Coleman, Cy - 91 Comden, Betty - 91 Compton, Jethro - 13

Drury, Allen - 30 Durang, Christopher - 77 Ebb, Fred - 69, 76, 88 Edwards, Greg - 48 Eno, Will - 36-37 Essentials, The - 88 Ferrentino, Lindsey - 7 Fierstein, Harvey - 61, 82-83, 84 Finn, William - 76, 85 Firth, Tim - 62 Flahive, Liz - 21 Fogel, Bryan - 59 Foley, John - 86 Fosse, Bob - 69 Fox, Skylar - 48 Fratti, Mario - 86 Frayn, Michael - 38 Friel, Brian - 59 Fugard, Athol - 21, 38 Furth, George - 35 Gelbart, Larry - 34 George, Madeleine - 21 Giardina, Anthony - 12 Gibson, William - 69 Gilroy, Frank D. - 15 Glass, Suzanne - 35 Glaudini, Bob - 34 Goggin, Dan - 91 Golamco, Michael - 30, 57 Gordon, Ruth - 21 Gray, Simon - 33 Green, Adolph - 91 Green, Amanda - 80-81 Greenidge, Kirsten - 21 Greenwich, Ellie - 76 Grosso, Andrew - 88 Guare, John - 78 Haimsohn, George - 86 Haley, Jennifer - 14

Heifner, Jack - 76 Henriques, Simon - 48 Herman, Jerry - 82-83, 84 Herrick, Jack - 88 Horovitz, Israel - 30 Howe, Tina - 15, 33, 35, 59 Hunter, Samuel D. - 10, 18, 30, 38, 62 Iconis, Joe - 74 Jacobs, Jim - 85 Jasper, Jennifer - 48 Joseph, Rajiv - 52, 56 Kalcheim, Lee - 51 Kaminsky, Stuart M. - 18 Kander, John - 69, 76, 88 Kellett, Gloria Calderon - 48 Kennedy, Adrienne - 32 Kerr, Jean - 62 King, Carole - 88 King, James Gordon - 48 King, Larry L. - 28, 86 Kinnear, Rory - 62 Koch, Lisa - 74 Kooman, Michael - 78 Kopit, Arthur - 49, 86 Kraiem, Eliam - 51 Kramer, Larry - 46 Krieger, Henry - 78, 85 Kron, Lisa - 66-67 Laird, Marvin - 76 Lapine, James - 20, 76, 85 Laufer, Deborah Zoe - 6, 52 Laurents, Arthur - 23 Lauro, Shirley - 29 Lee, JC - 57 Lee, Kimber - 47 LeFranc, Dan - 11 Leigh, Mike - 34 Leight, Warren - 62 Lew, Michael - 56

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Loewith, Jason - 74, 89 Lonergan, Kenneth - 10 Lopez, Matthew - 51 Lorick, Robert - 85 Luce, William - 43 Ludwig, Ken - 8-9, 18 Mackes, Steve - 74 Majok, Martyna - 48 Malloy, Dave - 87 Mamet, David - 21, 59

Pamatmat, A. Rey - 51, 56 Parker, Trey - 76 Parks, Suzan-Lori - 16-17 Parnell, Peter - 33, 52 Peirce, Lincoln - 89 Porter, Cole - 69, 74 Rabe, David - 43 Rapp, Adam - 11 Ravenhill, Mark - 60 Rebeck, Theresa - 11

Thompson, David - 69, 76 Thureen, Paul - 13, 34 Tobiessen, Josh - 13 Tolan, Kathleen - 13 Tolins, Jonathan - 42 Tovatt, Patrick - 43 Treem, Sarah - 20 Trieschmann, Catherine - 20 Tysen, Nathan - 88 Ulvaeus, BjĂśrn - 86

Mandel, Loring - 30 Marlette, Doug - 88 Martin, Jane - 22, 35 Masterson, Peter - 86 Mathias, Adam - 74 May, Elaine - 33 McGuinness, Frank - 46 McMahon, Frank - 11 McNally, Terrence - 88 Meehan, Thomas - 78 Melnick, Peter - 77 Mensch, Carly - 28, 46 Miller, Chris - 88 Miller, Patricia - 74 Miller, Robin - 86 Miroshnik, Meg - 10, 42 Mitnick, Michael - 68 Monk, Debra - 86 Moore, Mavor - 91 Morgan, Cass - 86 Morisseau, Dominique - 10, 52 Morris, Melissa - 85 Moses, Itamar - 13, 31 Mosley, Walter - 42 Motoya, Yukiko - 57 Murphy, Kevin - 92-93, 94-95 Myatt, Julie Marie - 10 Nelson, Richard - 13, 86 New Cannibal Society - 76 Nguyen, Qui - 57 Norman, Marsha - 28, 96 Odets, Clifford - 69 Ogawa, Aya - 57 O’Hara, Robert - 44 Okada, Toshiki - 57 O'Keefe, Laurence - 92-93, 94-95 Oliver, Ryan Scott - 85 Ono, Yoko - 69 Paley, Joel - 76

Redgrave, Lynn - 20 Reinblatt, George - 85 Reynolds, Jonathan - 49 Rice, Tim - 86 Robin, Kate - 49 Roninson, Andy - 48 Rosenstock, Kim - 68 Ruhl, Sarah - 63, 64-65, 69 Russell, Bill - 78 Russell, Willy - 78 Sanders, Nathan - 51 Santoriello, Jill - 90 Sawyer, Michael - 28 Schimmel, John - 86 Schmidt, Joshua - 74 Schreck, Heidi - 23, 50 Schwartz, Jenny - 7, 22 Sendak, Maurice - 88 Shekar, Madhuri - 57 Shevelove, Burt - 69 Shumlin, Herman - 44 Simon, Lucy - 96 Simon, Neil - 15, 18 Simpson, Bland - 88 Skillman, Crystal - 28 Skinner, Penelope - 28 Smalls, Charlie - 75 Sod, Ted - 74 Solis, Octavio - 7 Staats, Amy - 48 Stevens, Marcus - 91 Stone, Peter - 78, 88 Strouse, Charles - 69 Suh, Lloyd - 56 Swados, Elizabeth - 79 Swale, Jessica - 35 Szymkowicz, Adam - 42 Taub, Michael - 46 Tesori, Jeanine - 66-67

Van Heusen, James - 88 Walat, Kathryn - 51 Wann, Jim - 74, 86 Washburn, Anne - 6, 49 Wasserstein, Wendy - 38 Weller, Michael - 44 Whaley, Michael - 74 Wilder, Thornton - 30 Wiliams, Samm-Art - 52 Willmott, Sam - 91 Wilson, August - 15, 29, 49, 59 Winkler, Leah Nanako - 48 Wise, Jim - 86 Wolfson, Sam - 59 Wright, Doug - 80-81 Yee, Lauren - 33, 46, 56 Yeston, Maury - 78, 86 Yockey, Steve - 23 Yoshida, Kyoko - 57 Younger, Kelly - 48 Youstra, Christopher - 89

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Jenny Jules , Sterling K. Brown, Peter Jay Fernandez in Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), 2015 (Joan Marcus).